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diff --git a/old/11470-8.txt b/old/11470-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..692a955 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11470-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5551 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of His Big Opportunity, by Amy Le Feuvre + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: His Big Opportunity + +Author: Amy Le Feuvre + +Release Date: March 6, 2004 [EBook #11470] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HIS BIG OPPORTUNITY *** + + + + +Produced by Joel Erickson, Michael Ciesielski, Amy Petri and PG +Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + +[Illustration: "Quite a little party of friends to see him off." (p. +155)] + + + + + HIS BIG OPPORTUNITY + + BY AMY LE FEUVRE + + Author of "Probable Sons," "The Odd One," + "Teddy's Button," etc, etc. + + 1898 + + + + +Contents + + +Chapters + +I. On the Garden Wall + +II. A Song + +III. Making An Opportunity + +IV. An Awkward Visit + +V. A Lost Donkey + +VI. Rob + +VII. A Walnut Story + +VIII. The Bertrams' Leap + +IX. Making His Leap + +X. A Cripple + +XI. A Gift to the Queen + +XII. Letters + +XIII. Old Principle + +XIV. Heroes + +XV. An Unwelcome Proposal + +XVI. David and Jonathan + +XVII. Boy's Big Opportunity + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + + + +Quite a Little Party of Friends to See Him Off + +Old Principle Laughed at Dudley's Notion + +"Now Then, You Rascals, What Are You Doing to My Donkey?" + +"He's Dead, Ben--He's Dead!" + + + + +I + + +ON THE GARDEN WALL + +They were sitting astride on the top of the old garden wall. Below them +on the one side stretched a sweet old-fashioned English garden lying in +the blaze of an August sun. In the distance, peeping from behind a +wealth of creepers and ivy was the old stone house. It was at an hour in +the afternoon when everything seemed to be at a standstill: two or three +dogs lay on the soft green lawn fast asleep, an old gardener smoking his +pipe and sitting on the edge of a wheelbarrow seemed following their +example; and birds and insects only kept up a monotonous and drowsy +dirge. + +But the two little figures clad in white cricketting flannels, were full +of life and motion as they kept up an eager and animated conversation on +their lofty seat. + +"You see, Dudley, if nothing happens, we will make it happen!" + +"Then it isn't an opportunity." + +"Yes it is. Why if those old fellows in olden times hadn't ridden off to +look for adventures they would never have found them at home." + +"But an opportunity isn't an adventure." + +"Yes, it is, you stupid! An adventure is something that happens, and so +is an opportunity." + +The little speaker who announced this logic so dogmatically, was a slim +delicate boy with white face, and large brown eyes, and a crop of dark +unruly curls that had a trick of defying the hair cutter's skill, and of +growing so erratically that "Master Roy's head," was pronounced quite +unmanageable. + +He was not a pretty boy, and was in delicate health, constantly subject +to attacks of bronchitis and asthma, yet his spirit was undaunted, and +as his old nurse often said, "his soul was too strong for his body." + +Dudley, his little cousin, who sat facing him, on the contrary, was a +true specimen of a handsome English boy. Chestnut hair and bright blue +eyes, rosy cheeks, and an upright sturdy carriage, did much to commend +him to every one's favor: yet for force of character and intellect he +came far behind Roy. + +He sat now pondering Roy's words, and kicking his heels against the +wall, whilst his eyes roved over the road on the outside of the garden +and away to a dark pine wood opposite. + +"Here's one coming then," he said, suddenly; "now you'll have to use +it." + +"Who? What? Where?" + +"It's a man; a tramp, a traveller or a highwayman, and he may be all the +lot together! It's an opportunity, isn't it?" + +Roy looked down the narrow lane outside the wall, and saw the figure of +a man approaching. His face lit up with eager resolve. + +"He's a stranger, Dudley; he doesn't belong to the village; we'll ask +him who he is." + +"Hulloo, you fellow," shouted Dudley in his shrill boyish treble; "where +do you come from? You don't belong to this part." + +The man looked up at the boys curiously. + +"And who may ye be, a-wall climbin' and a breakin' over in folks' +gardens to steal their fruit?" + +"Don't you cheek us," said Roy, throwing his head up, and putting on his +most autocratic air; "this is our garden and our wall, and the road +you're walking on is our private road!" + +"Then don't you take to insulting passers-by, or it will be the worse +for ye!" retorted the man. + +The boys were silent. + +"I'm sure he isn't an opportunity," whispered Dudley. + +But Roy would not be disconcerted. + +"Look here," he said, adopting a conciliatory tone; "we're looking out +for an opportunity to do some one some good, and then you came along, +that's why we spoke to you. Now just tell us if we can do it to you." + +"Yes," Dudley struck in: "you seem rather down, do you want anything +that we can give you?" + +The man glanced up at them to see if this was boyish impudence, but the +faces bending down were earnest and grave enough, and he said with a +short laugh,-- + +"Oh, I reckon there be just a few things I'm in want of; but as to your +givin' of them to me that be quite a different matter. Don't suppose ye +carry about jobs ready to hand in yer pockets, nor yet my set of tools +in pawn, nor yet a pint o' beer and a good hunk of bread and meat for a +starvin' feller! May be ye could tell me the way to the nearest pub, and +stand me a drink there!" + +Roy thrust his hand immediately into his pocket, and pulled out amongst +a confused mass of boys' treasures a sixpence. + +"I'll give you this if it will do you good," he said, holding it up +proudly. "I've kept it a whole two days without spending it. It will +give you some beer and bread and cheese, I expect. Is there anything +else we can do for you?" + +"If you go to Mr. Selby, the rector, he'll put you in the way of work," +shouted out Dudley, as the man catching the sixpence flung down to him +slouched off with muttered thanks. + +"No parsons for me," was the rejoinder. + +The boys watched his figure disappear down the road, and then Roy said +reflectively,-- + +"Too many opportunities like that would empty our pockets." + +"And I wonder if it will really do him good," said Dudley; then glancing +over into the garden, he added: "Here comes Aunt Judy, she's calling +us." + +Down the winding gravel path came their aunt; a strikingly handsome +woman. She looked up at her little nephews and laughed when she came to +the wall. + +"Oh, you imps, do you know I've been hunting for you everywhere! You +will have a fall like Humpty Dumpty if you choose such high perches. Now +what comfort can you find, may I ask, in such a blazing breakneck seat? +Do you find broken bottles a soft cushion?" + +"We've cleared those rotten things away here," said Dudley, preparing to +clamber down; "it's our watch tower, and we've a first-rate view, you +just come up and see!" + +"Thank you, I would rather not attempt the climb. What have you been +talking about? Jonathan looks as grave as a judge." + +Roy looked down at his aunt without moving. + +"If you won't laugh or tell granny, we'll tell you, because you never +split if you say you won't." + +"All right, I promise." + +"Well, you see, this morning Mr. Selby gave us this for our copy: 'As ye +have opportunity do good unto all men,' and he told us of a King +somebody--I forget who--who used to write down at the end of each day on +a slate,--if he hadn't done any good to any one,--'I've lost a day.' We +thought it would be a good plan to start this afternoon and see what we +could do. We tried on old Hal first, but he didn't seem to like it. He +was uncovering some of the frames, and so we went and uncovered all of +them, and then he said we had spoilt some of his seedlings, and nearly +went into a fit with rage. I turned the hose on him to cool him down. He +is asleep in the wheelbarrow now; we can see him from here. We really +came up here to get out of his way, his language was awful!" + +"Come down, you monkey. I can't carry on a conversation with you so far +above me. Softly now. Bless the boys, how they can stick their toes into +such a wall is past my comprehension! Granny wants to see you before +your tea, so come along. And who else has been benefited by your good +deeds?" + +They were walking toward the house by this time, each boy hanging on to +one of her arms. It was easy to see the affection between them. + +Dudley eagerly poured out the story of the tramp, and Miss Bertram +listened sympathetically. + +"Never send a man to a public house, boys--and never give him money for +beer. Perhaps he may have come down in the world through love of it. You +know I am always ready to give any one a relief ticket. That's the best +way to help such cases." + +"Yes, but that would be your doing not ours." + +"Money is a difficult way of helping," said Miss Bertram; "don't get +into the habit of thinking money is the only thing that will do people +good. It too often does them harm." + +"Oh, I say! that's hard lines on me, when my last sixpence has gone, and +I was going to get a stunning ball old Principle has in his shop!" + +Miss Bertram laughed at Roy's woe-begone little face. + +"Never mind," she said, consolingly; "your intentions were good, and you +must buy your experience by mistakes as you go through life. Now go into +granny softly, both of you, and talk nicely to her. She will be one +person you can do good to, by brightening her up a little." + +Dudley made a grimace at Roy; but both boys entered the house, and +crept into a cool half-darkened drawing-room on tiptoe, with hushed +voices and sober demeanor. A stern looking old lady sat upright in her +easy chair, knitting busily. She greeted the boys rather coldly. + +"What have you been doing with yourselves? I sent for you some time ago. +Do you not remember that I like you to come to me every afternoon about +this hour?" + +"Yes, granny," said Roy, climbing into an easy chair opposite her; "we +were coming only we didn't know it was so late: we were busy talking." + +"Boys' chatter ought not to come before a grandmother's wishes." + +There was silence; then Dudley struck in boldly: + +"We were talking about good things, granny. It wasn't chatter. Roy and I +are going to look out for opportunities every day of our lives. Do you +think an opportunity is the same as an adventure? I don't think you have +adventures of doing good, do you?" + +"Yes," asserted Roy, bobbing up and down in his chair excitedly; "King +Arthur and his knights did always. They never rode through a wood +without having an adventure, and it was always doing good, wasn't it, +granny?" + +Conversation never slackened when the boys were present, and Mrs. +Bertram, though shrinking at all times from their high spirits and love +of fun, yet looked forward every day to their short visit. She was a +confirmed invalid, and rarely left the house, and her daughter Julia in +consequence took her place as mistress over the household. + +Three years before, Roy and Dudley arrived within a month of each other, +to find a home with their grandmother. Roy, whose proper name was +Fitzroy, came from Canada, both his parents having died out there. +Dudley's father had died when he was a baby, but his mother had married +again in India; and upon her death which occurred not long after, his +stepfather had sent him home to his grandmother. From the first day that +they met, the boys were sworn friends; and their aunt dubbed them +"David" and "Jonathan" after having been an unseen witness of a very +solemn vow transacted between them under the shadow of the pines, only a +week after their meeting. + +Roy's delicate health was a cause of great anxiety to his grandmother, +and if it had not been for Miss Bertram's wise tact and judgment, he +would have been imprisoned in one room and swathed in cotton wool most +of the year round. He had the advantage of having an old nurse who had +brought him up from his birth, and had come from Canada with him; and +she was as vigilant and experienced in managing his ailments as could be +desired. Poor little Roy, with his uncertain health, was heir to a very +large property of his father's not far away; and the responsibilities +awaiting him, and the knowledge that he would have so much power in his +hands, perhaps had the effect of making him weigh life more seriously +than would most boys of his age. + +Later on after their visit to their grandmother was over, and tea had +been finished in the nursery, he wandered into his own little room, and +leaning out of his window, looked up into the clear sky above. + +"I feel so small," was his wistful thought, "and heaven is so big; but +I'll do something big enough to get, 'Well done good and faithful +servant,' said to me when I die, I hope. And I'll try every day till I +do it!" + + + + +II + + +A SONG + +"Come here, boys. I have had some new music from town, and here is a +song that you will like to listen to, I expect." + +It was Miss Bertram who spoke, and her appearance in the nursery just +saved a free fight. Wet afternoons were always a sore trial to the boys: +their mornings were generally spent at the Rectory under Mr. Selby's +tuition, but their afternoons were their own, and it was hard to be kept +within four walls, and expected to make no sound to disturb their +grandmother's afternoon nap. + +The old nurse was nodding in her chair, and her charges with jackets off +and rolled up shirt sleeves were advancing toward each other on tiptoe, +and muttering their threats in wrathful whispers. + +"I'll show you I'm no coddle!" + +"And I'll show you I'm no lazy lubber!" + +At the sound of their aunt's voice they stopped; and each picked up his +jacket with some confusion, Dudley saying contentedly, "All right, old +fellow, pax now, and we'll finish it up to-morrow." + +"Aunt Judy, do let us come into the drawing-room then, and hear you +sing; we're sick of this old nursery, we're too big to be kept here." + +Roy spoke scornfully, but his aunt shook her head at him: + +"Do you know this is the room I love best in the house? Your father and +I used it till we were double your age, and no place ever came up to it +in our estimation. Don't be little prigs and think yourselves men before +you're boys!" + +"Why, Aunt Judy, we've been boys ever since we were born!" + +"I look upon you as infants now," retorted Miss Bertram, laughing. "Come +along--tiptoe past granny's room, please, and no racing downstairs." + +"We'll slide down the rails instead, we always do when granny is +asleep." + +"Not when I am with you, thank you." + +A few minutes afterward, and the boys were standing on either side of +the piano listening with delight to the song that has stirred so many +boyish hearts: + + "'Tis a story, what a story, tho' it never made a noise + Of cherub-headed Jake and Jim, two little drummer boys + Of all the wildest scamps that e'er provoked a sergeant's eye, + They were first in every wickedness, but one thing could not lie, + And they longed to face the music, when the tidings from afar + Brought the news of wild disaster in a wild and savage war. + Said the Colonel, 'How can babies of battle bear the brunt?' + Said the little orphan rascals, 'please Sir, take us to the front! + And we'll play to the men in the far-off land, + When their eyes for home are dim; + If the Indians come, they shall hear our drum + In the van where the fight is grim. + Our lads we know, to the death will go, + If they're led by Jake and Jim.' + + "In the battle, 'mid the rattle, and the deadly hail of lead, + The two were in their glory--What did they know of dread? + And fierce the heathen cry arose across the Indian plain, + And 'twas Home, for the bravest there would never be again, + The raw recruits were restless, and they counted not the cost, + And the Colonel shouted, 'Steady lads, stand fast, or else we're lost.' + A rush! 'twas like an avalanche! a clash of steel and red! + A shock like mountain thunder, then the reg'ment turned and fled. + 'Give me the drum, take the fife,' said Jake, + 'And with all your might and main, + Play the old step now, for the reg'ment's sake + As they scatter along the plain. + We'll play them up to the front once more, + Tho' we never come back again.' + + "Then might the world have seen two little dots in red, + Facing the foe, when the rest had turned and fled! + So young, so brave and gay, while others held their breath, + They played ev'ry inch of the way to meet their death; + And _then_ at last the reg'ment turned, for vengeance ev'ry man + To save the lads they turned and fought as only demons can; + They swept the foe before them across the mountain rim, + But victory that day could never bring back Jake or Jim. + And they silently stood where the children fell, + Not a word of triumph said, + For they knew who had led as they bowed each head, + And looked at the quiet dead; + That the fight was won, and the reg'ment saved, + By those two little dots in red." + +Miss Bertram stole a glance at the boys' faces as she finished singing. + +With a wriggle and a twist Dudley turned his back upon her; but not +before she had seen the blue eyes swimming with tears, and heard a +choking sob being hastily swallowed. Roy stood erect, his little face +quivering with emotion, and his usually pale cheek flushed a deep +crimson, whilst his small determined mouth and chin looked more resolute +and daring than ever. His hands thrust deep in the pockets of his +knickerbockers he looked straight before him and repeated with emphasis, + +"They played every inch of the way to meet their death!" + +"Regular little heroes, weren't they?" said Miss Bertram. + +"Rather," came from Roy's lips, and then without another word he ran out +of the room. + +"Do you like it, David?" Miss Bertram asked, touching Dudley lightly on +the shoulder. + +"No--I--don't--it makes a fellow in a blue funk." And two fists were +hastily brushed across the eyes. + +"Shall I sing you something more cheerful?" + +"No, thanks, not to-night, I think I'll go to Roy." + +And Dudley, too, made his exit, leaving his aunt touched and amused at +the effect of the song. + +An hour after the rain had ceased, and the sun was shining out. Down the +village street walked the two boys enjoying their freedom more soberly +than was their wont. + +"We must, we must, we _must_ be heroes, Dudley!" + +"Yes, if we get a chance." + +"But why shouldn't we have it as well as those two boys. I wonder +sometimes what God meant us to do when He made us! And I'm not going to +be in the dumps because I'm not very strong. For look at Nelson: old +Selby told us he was always very seedy and shaky, always ill; and not +being big in body doesn't matter, for Nelson was a little man and so was +Napoleon, and lots of the great men have been short and stumpy and +hideous! I mean to do something before I die, if only an opportunity +will come! Do you remember the story of the little chap in Holland, who +put his hand in the hole in the sand bank, and kept the whole ocean from +coming in and washing away hundreds of towns and villages? If I could +only do a thing like that, something that would do good to millions of +people; something that would be worth living for! If I could save +somebody's life from fire, or drowning, or some kind of danger! Don't +you long for something of that sort, eh?" + +"I don't know that I do," was the slow response; "but I should like you +to get a chance of it if you want it so much." + +"Oh, wasn't it splendid of those two little chaps--a whole regiment! And +only those two who didn't run away! I think I could stand fire like +that, couldn't you?" + +"I would with you." + +"But I don't expect I'll ever go into the army." This in sorrowful +tones. + +"Why not?" + +"Oh, they'd never have me. I'm too thin round the chest; nurse says I'm +like a bag of bones, and I wouldn't make a smart soldier. Now you'd be a +splendid one, no one could be ashamed of you." + +"Well, I won't go without you." + +"But I'll do something worth living for," repeated Roy, tossing up his +head and giving a stamp as he spoke; "and I'll seize the first +opportunity that comes." + +Dudley was silent. They had now reached the low stone bridge over the +river, a favorite resort amongst all the village boys for fishing; and +quite a little group of them were collected there. Roy and Dudley were +welcomed eagerly as though perhaps at times they were inclined to assume +patronizing and masterful airs; yet their extreme generosity and love +for all country sport made them general favorites with the villagers. + +Roy was soon in the midst of an eager discussion about the best bait for +trout; and was presently startled by a heavy splash over the bridge. +Looking up, to his amazement, he saw Dudley struggling in the water. + +"Help, Roy, I'm drowning!" + +Both boys were capital swimmers, but Roy saw that Dudley seemed +incapable of keeping himself up, and in one second he threw off his +jacket, and dived head foremost off the bridge to the rescue. The +current of the river was strong here, for a mill wheel was only a short +distance off; and it was hard work to swim safely ashore. Roy +accomplished it successfully amidst the cheers of the admiring group on +the bridge; and when once on dry ground again, neither of the boys +seemed the worse for the wetting. In the hubbub that ensued Dubley was +not questioned as to the cause of the accident; but it appeared that his +feet had got entangled in some string and netting that one of the boys +had brought with him to the bridge, and it was this that had prevented +him from swimming. + +"It's awfully nice that I had the chance of helping you," said Roy, as +the two boys were running home as fast as they could to change their +wet clothes; "I didn't hurt you in the water, did I? I believe I gave a +pretty good tug to your hair, I was awfully glad you hadn't had your +hair cut lately." + +"You've saved my life," said Dudley, staring at Roy with a peculiar +gravity; "if you hadn't dashed over to me, I should have been sucked +down by that old wheel, and should have been a dead man by this time. +You've done to-day what you were longing to do." + +"Yes, but I tell you I felt awfully squeamish when I saw you in the +water and thought I might be too late." + +As they neared the house, Roy's pace slackened. + +"Go on, Dudley, and leave me, I can't get on, I believe that horrid old +asthma is coming on, I'll follow slowly." + +"I'm not quite such a cad," was Dudley's retort, and then hoisting Roy +up on his back, as if that mode of proceeding was quite a usual +occurrence, he made his way into the house. + +They crept up to their bedrooms and changed their wet clothes before +they showed themselves to any one. Then Dudley waxed eloquent for the +occasion, and the story was told in drawing-room and servants' hall, +till every one was loud in their praises of the little rescuer. + +"He looks too small to have done it," said Miss Bertram, smiling; for +though Roy was Dudley's senior by two months, he was a good head +shorter. + +Roy got rather impatient under this adulation. + +"Oh, shut up, Dudley, don't be such an ass, as if I could have done +anything else!" + +An hour after, and Roy was sitting up in bed speechless and panting, +with the bronchitis kettle in full play, and nurse trying vainly to +battle with one of his worst bronchial attacks. + +"I say "--he gasped at last; "do you think--I'm going to die--this +time?" + +"Surely no, my pet. It's more asthma than bronchitis; I'll pull you +round, please God." + +Midnight came, and when nurse left the room for a minute she found a +small figure crouched down outside the door. + +It was Dudley. + +"Oh, nurse, he's very bad, isn't he? Is he going to die? What shall I +do! I shall be his murderer, I've killed him!" + +Dudley's eyes were wild with terror, and nurse tried to soothe him. + +"Don't talk nonsense, but go to bed; he'll be better in the morning, I +hope. It's just the wet, and the strain of it that's done it. There's +none to blame. You couldn't help it, and he's been as bad as this +before and pulled through. Go to bed, laddie, and ask God to make him +better." + +Dudley crept back to bed, and flung himself down on his pillows with a +fit of bitter weeping. + +"She says I couldn't help it; oh, God, make him better, make him better, +do forgive me! I never thought of this!" + + + + +III + + +MAKING AN OPPORTUNITY + +It was two days before Dudley was allowed to see the little invalid. The +doctor had been in constant attendance; but all danger was over now, and +Roy as usual was rapidly picking up his strength again. + +"His constitution has wonderful rallying powers," the old doctor said; +"he is like a bit of india rubber!" + +It seemed to Dudley that Roy's face had got wonderfully white and small; +and there was a weary worn look in his eyes, as he turned round to greet +him. + +"Now sit down and talk to him, but don't let him do the talking," was +nurse's advice as she left the boys together. + +Dudley sat down by the bed, and squeezed hold of the little hand held +out to him. + +"I'm so sorry, old chap," he said, nervously; "do you feel really +better? I've been so miserable." + +"I'm first-rate now," was the cheerful response; "it's awfully nice +getting your breath back again; it's only made me feel a little tired, +that's all!" + +"It was all me!" + +"Why that has been my comfort," said Roy, with shining eyes; "I felt +when I was very bad, that if I died, I might have lived for something. +It would have been lovely to die for you, Dudley--at least you know to +have got myself ill from that reason; it's so very tame when I get bad +from nothing at all; but I'm well again now, so I know God is letting me +live to do something else!" + +"I was the one that ought to have been made ill to punish me," blurted +out Dudley, and then he was silent. + +Roy's eyes rested on his flushed face with some wonder. + +"It wasn't wicked of you to fall into the river; you couldn't help it." + +A crimson flush crept over Dudley's face up to the very roots of his +hair; he picked the fringe of the counterpane restlessly between his +fingers, and kicked his heels against the legs of his chair. Silence +again: Roy looked steadily at him; and then an expression of +astonishment and bewilderment flitted across his face, followed by one +of strange, conviction. + +"Dudley, look at me." + +Roy's tone was peremptory, but Dudley never moved, until the command was +given in a sharper tone. Then he raised his head, but his blue eyes had +a guilty harassed look in them, and he dropped them quickly again. + +"It's no good; I've found you out. Did you tie up your feet like that +yourself?" + +After a minute, in a sepulchral tone, came the words, "Yes, when you +weren't looking!" + +Roy lay back on his pillows with a sigh. + +A little disappointment mingled with his feelings which were somewhat +mixed. After a pause, he said, "You _are_ a good fellow! To think of +doing that for me! What would you have done if I hadn't jumped in to +save you?" + +Then Dudley raised his head: + +"I knew you wouldn't fail me," he said, triumphantly; "I knew I could +trust you!" + +Roy put out his thin little arm and drew Dudley's bonny face down by the +side of his on the pillow. + +"I don't think," he whispered, "that even I could have been plucky +enough to do that--not in sight of that old mill wheel!" + +Neither spoke for a few minutes; then Dudley said, + +"I should have been your murderer if you had died. That has been the +worst of it. But you did like saving a drowning fellow, didn't you?" + +"Ye-es, but it wasn't quite real--at least it isn't as if you really had +tumbled in by accident." + +"Well but I only did what you said we must do. I made an opportunity." + +And after this remark Roy had nothing more to say; but neither he nor +Dudley ever enlightened any one as to the true cause of the accident. + +When Roy had quite recovered, the two boys set out one afternoon to +visit their greatest friend in the village. This was the old man every +one called "old Principle." He lived by himself in a curious +three-cornered house at the extreme end of the village, and kept a +little general shop where everything but eatables could be obtained. + +"I keep every article that man, woman, or child can want for their use, +for their homes, their work or their play; but food and drink I will not +cater for. It's against my principles to sell perishable goods, and I +will not be the one to minister to the very lowest animal wants of my +fellow creatures." + +This was his favorite speech, from which it may be judged he was +somewhat of a character. + +He had several hobbies, and was a well-read man and superior to those +around him; and perhaps this was the cause of his holding himself aloof +from most of the villagers. They termed him "cranky and cracked," but +his goods were always acceptable, and he was thoroughly successful in +his business. When his shop was closed he would go out on the hills, +and there spend his time studying geology and botany. He knew the name +of every plant and insect, and the strata of the earth for many miles +round; and it was out of doors that the boys first made his +acquaintance. + +They found him on this afternoon seated behind his counter mending an +eight-day clock. + +"Well, old Principle, how are you?" said Roy, climbing up to the counter +and sitting comfortably on it with his legs dangling in mid air; "we +haven't seen you for ages." + +"Are you going out this evening?" enquired Dudley, as he proceeded to +follow Roy's example. + +"To be sure, when my work is done," responded the old man pushing up his +spectacles and regarding the boys with kindly eyes; "these light +evenings are my delight, as you know. If you sit still till I have +finished this clock, I will show you a treasure I found yesterday." + +"Can you mend everything?" asked Roy, curiously; "I never knew you +understood about clocks." + +"I've learned to mend most things," was the answer; "it isn't given to +every one to make, and I'm one of the menders in the world not the +makers. There's one thing I can't mend--and that is broken hearts." + +There was silence: Roy broke it at last by saying with knitted brow, +"I'd rather be a maker than a mender, but lots of people aren't either." + +"Quite right," nodded the old man; "most folk are breakers." + +"I wish I was as clever as you," said Dudley; "you mend umbrellas, and +kettles, and plates, and windows, and gates, and all sorts. How did you +learn?" + +"Well, I ain't ashamed of owning that my father was just a travelling +tinker, and when I was a little fellow I used to go round with him and +see him do most things. It was from travelling through the country I +learned to love it so. And my father, he was a thoughtful man, and when +I used to ask where the tin came from, and where the iron and where the +lead, he took to learning of it up so that he could answer me; and then +I came to find that most of our comforts come from underground, and so I +fell to digging. Ah, youngsters, earth is a wonderful treasure house!" + +The clock was done. Old Principle put it carefully by and then mounted +on some wooden steps, and took down a tin saucepan. The boys knew the +shelf well; as though apparently it was just a row of tinware for sale, +many a pot and pan held treasures that geologists would have given a +great deal to possess. + +Now when old Principle held out a peculiar shaped stone with loving +pride, Roy and Dudley pressed forward to look at it. + +"I know, it's a Roman hammer," shouted out Dudley. + +"It's a Saxon jug," suggested Roy. + +"It's part of a jaw of a mammoth many thousands of years old, and there +are two teeth in perfect preservation," old Principle said solemnly. + +"Where did you find it?" + +"Ah, you must come and see! In a cave that I have only just discovered, +and which must originally have been by the side of a river. I'll take +you there to-night if you can get permission to come." + +Nothing delighted the boys more than an expedition with old Principle. +They promised to be down at his shop punctually at half-past seven that +evening, and then the conversation drifted into other channels. + +"Old Principle, do you think we ought to make opportunities?" questioned +Dudley, presently; "Roy thinks we ought, and I did make one the other +day, but it didn't turn out well." + +"Ay, Master Roy is always for making," said the old man with a smile; +"he will try and cram his life with what will come fast enough +naturally, if he only waits." + +"But will it?" questioned Roy, flushing up with eagerness; "do you +think it will? I'm longing to do something big and grand and good; I +mayn't live to grow up you know, and I'm sure we're meant to do +something when we're boys." + +"We're trying to do good to all men as we have opportunity," said +Dudley, gravely. + +"Ay, stick to that, boys, and you'll succeed. There's none too small to +be true philanthropists." + +"What is a philanthropist?" asked Roy. + +"A man who benefits his fellow creatures. 'Tis a good principle to keep +in mind." + +"But it's difficult for boys to do grown-up people good. They always do +boys good." + +"Now look here, Master Roy. I've lived and learned where you haven't, +and I try and pass my principles on to you. That's how I do you good. +You come to me and take what I give you and seeing you act out the +advice I offers you does me good. You do me good too, every time you +comes to see me; it's cheery to hear and see you." + +"But that's very tame for us," said Roy, a little scornfully. + +"Oh, well, if your own likes must come into the question, it's a +different story! I didn't know it mattered about our feelings as long as +the good is done! 'Tis a bad principle to try to please others only when +it pleases ourselves." + +Roy looked a little ashamed of himself. He said no more on the subject, +and shortly after he and Dudley ran home to tea. + +They were very disappointed when their aunt refused to let them go out +again that evening. + +"It is too damp a night for Jonathan to be wandering through wet grass +and bog. You can go, David, if you like, but he must wait for another +opportunity." + +"I shan't go without Roy," said Dudley, sturdily. + +"We'll come and make a cave in the attic," suggested Roy, trying to be +cheerful. + +And for the rest of that evening they were absorbed in making a great +dust and racket amongst lumber boxes far away from their grandmother's +hearing. + + + + +IV + + +AN AWKWARD VISIT + +"And how do you know a river has been here?" + +"By the soil and by the relics I have found. Look at this fossil. Do you +see the outline of the fish? Fish don't live on dry ground." + +"There might have been a fishman passing by who dropped one out of his +cart." + +Old Principle laughed at Dudley's sceptical notion, and went on +shovelling out earth with great alacrity. It was Saturday afternoon: old +Principle had shut up his shop and taken the boys up to the hills +surrounding the little village, where in a ravine between two +precipitous crags, in the midst of a green bower of ferns and moss, he +was hard at work excavating an old cave that had been buried for many +years out of sight. + +Dudley and Roy were eagerly helping and chattering as only boys know +how. + +"This little ravine has been formed by a mountain stream rushing down," +continued the old man, resting on his spade for a minute; "'tis a good +principle, Master Dudley, to trust grown-up folks' knowledge better than +your own." + +[Illustration: "Old Principle laughed at Dudley's notion."] + +"I wish," said Roy, reflectively, "that this cave was nearer home; it +would be so lovely to come out whenever we wanted to, wouldn't it, Dudley? +Perhaps some king has hidden away in it, or soldier when he was pursued +by his enemies!" + +"Hulloo," said Dudley, looking up the hill; "here is such a funny +looking woman coming down with a donkey, her skirt is nearly up to her +knees, and she has a man's boots on." + +Old Principle paused in his work, and in a minute or two greeted the +newcomer. + +"Good-afternoon, Mrs. Cullen, how's your husband to-day?" + +"Badly, very badly, but I's forced to leave he. I lock the door and put +the key in me pocket, for I's bin up the hill yonner cuttin' peat sin +seven o'clock this mornin'. He do get awfu' lonesome, he say, an' if me +niece hadn't a married and gone to 'Merica, I should have kept she to +tend him." + +"Who is she?" asked Roy, as after a few more words the woman moved on. + +"She lives at the bottom of the hill over there. Her husband has been +ill of consumption these last two years, and she works to support them +both. She's a hard-working woman, is Martha Cullen; she works in the +fields harvesting just now; if I could feel I'd be welcome I would go to +sit with her husband sometimes, but she's very queer, she won't let a +neighbor come near him, I have tried more than once. It seems hard on +him to be bedridden there day after day without a soul to speak to; or +any one to give him a drink!" + +Roy gazed thoughtfully after the retreating figure of the woman, and +then turned his attention again to the cave. + +When an hour later he and Dudley were walking home footsore, and rather +dirty, but with little bundles of treasures from the cave in their +grubby hands, he startled his cousin by saying-- + +"To-morrow we'll go and see Martha Cullen's husband. It's an opportunity +for us." + +"How shall we get in?" queried Dudley. + +"Climb in at the window. She told old Principle she would be out all day +at Farmer Stubbs. We'll go and do him good." + +"How?" + +"We'll wash his face, and make him a cup of tea, and sweep his room, and +give him his medicine," responded Roy, readily; "that's what nurse does +when she goes to visit any of Aunt Judy's sick people." + +Dudley did not look as if he relished the prospect before him. + +"That's girls' and women's work," he said; "boys needn't do that kind of +thing." + +Roy flushed up angrily. + +"All right, if you don't want to come, stay at home. It is a week since +we started to do good when the opportunity came, and we haven't done any +good to any one. I'm not going to waste any more time." + +Then after a pause he added, "Besides I think it will be rather fun +breaking into a strange cottage; we may have to get down the chimney." + +At this Dudley's face cleared. + +"I'll come," he said; "we'll go directly after dinner." + +"And we'll stow away a little of our pudding to take him--sick people +always have puddings." + +They had no difficulty in carrying out this plan. They always dined in +the nursery, and if nurse wondered at the amount of pudding that her +charges managed to consume that day, her old eyes were not sharp enough +to detect the transfer from plates to pockets. She sent them out into +the garden to play, and they soon were scampering out of the back gate +and along the road toward the little cottage at the bottom of the hill. + +It was a warm afternoon, and when they at length came near it they threw +themselves down on the grass to rest. + +"We mustn't frighten the old man," said Dudley, gazing at the thatched +cottage with a critical eye. "I see the windows are tight shut in +front, but there's one open at the side; we must creep up very quietly +and get in before he sees us, and then we can explain who we are." + +"And if the window won't do, we'll try the chimney, it looks a jolly big +one." + +Then after a pause-- + +"I suppose he'll be glad to see us?" + +"Of course he will. He must be dreadfully dull all alone." + +A few minutes after, they were holding a whispered consultation outside +a small pantry window through which Roy was going to squeeze himself. + +"I'll go first. It will be a tight fit for you, Dudley, but I'll give +you a good pull through, and you must hold your breath well in." + +"It's a kind of housebreaking," Dudley said, ripples of fun passing over +his face; "I don't mind visiting sick people if we go in at their +windows like this!" + +But Roy's little face was full of anxious gravity and purpose, and he +checked Dudley's inclination to laugh at once. + +He accomplished his part successfully, and then poor Dudley was hauled +and pulled at till purple in the face, and breathless with exertion, he +exclaimed, "I'm being squashed to a jelly; let go, I can't do it!" + +"Just one more try--now then--there, we've done it!" + +But Roy's exclamation of delight was drowned in an awful crash, as +Dudley swept off some shelves a bowl of milk, two plates, and a cup of +soup, and fell to the ground himself in the midst of it all. + +Immediately a man's voice called out, "Who's there! Hi! Help! Thieves! +Help!" + +Roy darted into the kitchen, and confronted a tall, hollow-cheeked man +who had scrambled out of his bed in the chimney corner, and stood +trembling from head to foot clutching hold of the bed-post, and coughing +violently. + +He did not seem at all appeased at the sight of the boys, but shook his +fist at them in a paroxysm of fright and rage. + +"Go away, you young blackguards--a robbin' honest folk, and a darin' to +show yer impudent faces, and disturbin' a dyin' man, knowin' as he's too +bad to give yer the hidin' ye desarve!" + +Roy was quite taken aback. + +"You're quite mistaken--let us explain--we've come to see you and do you +good. Don't you know who we are? We live at the Manor. Look--get back +into bed again, you'll take cold. We've brought you some pudding." + +Here a parcel of currant pudding was taken out of his jacket pocket and +held out temptingly. + +"A' don't believe a word! Ye've been in the pantry a smashin' the +missus' things, and a eatin' and a drinkin' all ye can lay hands +on--begone, I tell ye!" + +"That was me," put in Dudley, edging up to the irate invalid; "you see +the door was locked and we had to come in at the window, and I'm rather +fat about the shoulders, and Roy jerked me through too quick and I fell +amongst some plates. But we really haven't stolen anything, we aren't +robbers!" + +"Begone, ye rascals!" repeated the old man, and then such a violent fit +of coughing took possession of him that he sank back on his bed +perfectly exhausted and helpless, waving them away and shaking his head +at them when they tried to approach him. + +Dudley looked doubtfully at Roy. + +"I'm afraid we aren't doing him any good," he said, slowly. "He won't +let us." + +"No," was Roy's response, "we must go, I suppose. He is a foolish, +stupid old man, or he would listen to us and let us explain." + +Then advancing again to the sick man Roy said slowly and solemnly, +"You'll be very sorry one day when you know how you've treated us, and +we shall never, never try to see you again, or bring you pudding or +comfort you, _never_! If you had let us, we should have washed your +face and hands, and made you some gruel, and given you your medicine, +and then sat down by your bed and talked nicely to you, but you won't +let us do you good, so we shall leave you, and if you're lonely locked +in here all day with no one to speak to, it's your own fault!" + +Then holding his head up bravely, Roy marched out of the kitchen, and +Dudley followed him with some misgivings as to his exit again by the +pantry window. But Roy solved this difficulty. + +"Look here, the key is in the back door; we will unlock it and get out +properly. I'm sorry we've smashed those plates." + +They walked home in the deepest dejection; as they went through the +village there met them on the bridge the same man that had passed them +when on the garden wall. He was much the worse for drink, and seemed +inclined to be quarrelsome. + +"Look 'ee here now, I'll just trouble 'ee to give me another sixpence, +young gent, or I'll help myself, and no nonsense, for I'm the feller for +fightin'!" + +He stood barring their way, lurching from side to side, and brandishing +a stick in his hand. + +Neither of the boys were daunted. Dudley shouted out, + +"Let us by at once, or we'll make you! You'd better look out how you +cheek us!" + +And Roy in a moment had his jacket off, and was rolling up his shirt +sleeves. + +"Come on, Dudley, we'll lick him into shape, if he dares to touch us!" + +What might have befallen our two little heroes cannot be told, for at +this critical juncture the rector came up, and in stern, commanding +tones ordered the man on. + +"That stamp of man is a pest in the place," he said; "he won't be +influenced for good but hangs about the ale-houses and lives on the +proceeds of his begging. If people only knew the harm they do in giving +him money instead of a little honest work! Well, boys, run along home, +it's a good thing I came up to stop a free fight. How do you think you +two atoms could have got the better of a man like that? 'Discretion is +the better part of valor' remember. Keep your fists for a good cause. +And never entice a drunken man to fight. It is a degrading spectacle." + +Saying which Mr. Selby passed on, and Roy and Dudley walked home without +saying a word to each other. + +By the time they had finished their tea, they recovered their spirits, +and were in the midst of an exciting game of cricket in a field +adjoining the house with the old coachman and the stable-boy, when a +summons came to them from the house to come in at once to their aunt. + +"What's up, I wonder!" exclaimed Dudley, as he raced Roy up to the front +door; "Aunt Judy never sends for us at dinner time." + +They found their aunt in the library. She was in her dinner dress and +the dinner gong was sounding in the hall, but her face was puzzled as +she turned from a woman talking to her, to the boys. + +"My nephews are little gentlemen; you must be mistaken," she was saying. + +Roy and Dudley recognized the woman immediately. It was Mrs. Cullen, and +their hearts sank. + +"Come here, boys," Miss Bertram said; "I have been hearing a strange +story from Mrs. Cullen, of two boys breaking into her house while she +was away this afternoon, frightening her dying husband so much that the +doctor fears he won't outlive the night, and breaking, and stealing +things from her pantry. She insists upon it that it was you; her husband +told her so, but I cannot believe it. You would have no object in +behaving so wickedly." + +Dudley's cheeks were crimson, and he hung his head in shame. Roy, as +usual, was not daunted. + +"It's all a great mistake, Aunt Judy, we never stole a thing; we went +to see him and take him some pudding and do him good. We had to get in +at the pantry window because the doors were all locked, and we did spill +some milk and some soup, and broke a few plates. We couldn't make him +understand we weren't robbers, so we came away again--and we're very +sorry." + +Mrs. Cullen turned furiously upon them, and her language was so abusive, +that Miss Bertram sent the boys away, and brought the poor woman to +reason by quiet, persuasive words. + +"I will enquire into the matter. I cannot quite understand their motive; +boys are thoughtless, and perhaps their intentions were good. I know +they will be extremely sorry at the result of their visit. If you come +with me to the housekeeper she will give you some good, strong soup for +your husband. I will come and see him myself the first thing to-morrow +morning." + +It was not till after she had dined with her mother, that Miss Bertram +sent for her little nephews again, and then she gave them a severer +scolding than they had received from her for a long time. They crept up +to bed that night feeling very woe-begone. + +"I'm sure we'd better give up these opportunities," said Dudley, +disconsolately, as they paused at an old staircase window on their way +to their rooms; "you see this is the third one, and they all turn out +badly. There was that tramp who must have got drunk with your sixpence, +and then there was saving me, and that made you so awfully ill, and now +here's this old fellow that perhaps we shall make die. It all goes +wrong, somehow." + +Roy looked out of the window with knitted brow. + +"I was thinking of that King--Bruce--who saw the spider try three times +and then succeed. We must try again, that's all! I shan't give up yet. +It is really a big opportunity I'm looking for!" + +And Roy laid his head down on the pillow that night, steadfastly +purposing to continue his rôle of benefiting the human race. + + + + +V + + +A LOST DONKEY + +Fortunately for the boys, John Cullen got over his fright and took a +turn for the better, but Miss Bertram began to exercise more control +over their many spare hours. She took them out driving with her in the +afternoon, or expeditions by foot; sometimes to some farmhouse to tea, +sometimes to some neighboring squire who had young ones to entertain +them. And Dudley in his happy, careless way soon put all thoughts of +improved opportunities out of his head. He was ready enough to put into +action any proposal of Roy's, but left alone he was perfectly content to +enjoy himself in his own easy fashion; and Roy seemed to be willing to +let the matter rest, as he never now alluded to it. + +But one morning two or three weeks later, as the boys were returning +from the Rectory with their satchels in their hands, they met an old man +they knew in deep distress. + +"What's the matter, Roger?" asked Roy; "why are you muttering away and +shaking your head so?" + +"Ay, young master, I be in a sorrowful plight. My donkey has strayed +away and I cannot find she nowheres. I've been up over the hills, and +not a sign of she! And it's to-morrow that's market day, and how I'm to +get my veggetubbles to town is more'n I can tell 'ee!" + +"She can't be lost; when did you have her last?" + +"'Twas yest'day mornin'. Ay, she be just a kickin' up her heels miles +away and a laughin' at her poor old master. She be a terrible beast for +strayin', and I just let her out on the green for a bit thinkin' to give +her a pleasure, and that's how she treats me, the ungrateful creature! I +heerd she were seen on the hills, but I'm a weary of trampin' up and +down 'em." + +"We'll go out on the hills and look for her this afternoon," said Roy, +eagerly. + +"If Aunt Judy will let us," added Dudley. + +But Miss Bertram having gone out to lunch with some friends could not be +asked, so the two boys set out after their early dinner with light +hearts. + +"It's doing old Roger good, and ourselves too," said Roy; "I'm longing +to have a good outing, and we needn't be back very early, for granny +isn't well enough to see us to-day, nurse said." + +It was a delicious afternoon for a ramble; a soft breeze was blowing, +and the sun was not unpleasantly strong. The boys did a good deal of +looking for the missing donkey, but also managed to combine with that a +few other things, such as bird-nesting, picking wild strawberries, and +enjoying themselves as only boys can, when roaming about in the open +air. At last rather late in the afternoon they spied in the distance a +donkey, and delighted to think their quest was at an end, they hastened +up to it. + +Dudley had brought some carrots in his pocket, but the donkey was +utterly indifferent to such a dainty; she waited till the boys were +nearly up to her, and then with a kick up of her heels away she +galloped, evidently enjoying the chase. + +"Won't I give her a licking when I catch her," shouted Dudley, +wrathfully, as after a long and tiring race, they stopped a minute to +rest; "let us leave her and go home, Roy. I'm sure it's tea time, for I +feel dreadfully hungry, and we're miles and miles away. I've never been +so far before." + +"Oh, we mustn't give up," Roy replied, with his usual determination; "we +won't be beaten by an old donkey, and when we do catch her, we will both +get on her back and ride her home. Come on, let us have another try!" + +"We haven't got a halter, that's the worst of it." + +[Illustration: "'Now then, you rascals, what are you doing to my +donkey?'"] + +But Dudley plucked up courage, and in another half hour they were +successful; Roy seated on the donkey's back, and Dudley holding firmly +to her tail. + +"Now then--away with you--hip--hip--hurray!" + +Away they tore, both donkey and boys in best of spirits now: but before +long they were brought to a standstill. A man brandishing a huge stick +sprang out in front of them. + +"Now then, you rascals, what are you doing to my donkey? Get off it this +instant!" + +"It isn't your donkey, it's old Roger's, and we're taking it home to +him. Don't you cheek us! You're a rascal yourself!" + +Dudley spoke angrily, but as he noticed the donkey stop instantly, and +begin to sidle up toward the man an awful fear smote him, and Roy added +quietly, + +"You see you may be a thief or any one, for all we know, and it isn't +likely we're going to let you have the chance of stealing old Roger's +donkey. You go away and leave us alone. We're going home now--Gee-up. +Come on, Dudley." + +Not an inch would the donkey stir; and the man with a laugh, slipped a +halter out of his pocket and in another minute Roy was rolling on the +grass, and the donkey was being led off in the opposite direction. + +"You may think yourselves lucky to escape the thrashing ye desarves!" +shouted out the man; "ye've given me a nice chase after my beast for the +last hour, and ye needn't add a pack of lies to your wicked pranks!" + +The boys sat down on the grass to consider their position. + +"Well, I call it beastly rot," grumbled Dudley, thoroughly cross; "if +that's his donkey I don't believe old Roger's is on the hills at all. It +must have been this one that somebody saw, and now I come to think of it +Roger's has a black stripe down her back, and this one hadn't!" + +"I'm so awfully tired," said Roy, disconsolately; "we've done no good as +usual. I don't believe we ever shall do any one any good!" + +When Roy's spirits sank it was a bad case, and for some minutes there +was silence between them. Then feeling they must make the best of it +they scrambled to their feet and plodded slowly on in the direction of +home. A heavy mist was falling by this time, and dusk was setting in. +Roy began to cough, and at last in despair Dudley cried out, "I do +believe we're lost; I don't know where the path is, and I'm sure this +isn't the way we came!" + +"Well," said Roy, gasping as he spoke; "I'm afraid this old mist is +getting into my chest, and I can't go very fast when my breath gets +short. What shall we do? Can you shout--p'raps that man with the donkey +might hear us." + +Dudley shouted and shouted till he was hoarse, and then the little +fellows trudged wearily on. + +"You see," said Roy, bravely; "we must get somewhere if we go straight +on." + +"I believe," said Dudley, in doleful tones; "that you get right round +the world and come back to where you started, if you only walk straight +enough!" + +This depressing view did not comfort his cousin. + +"I've always thought it would be very exciting to be lost," Roy said +with a sigh; "but it doesn't seem very nice, does it? And it is so cold. +I wonder if we shall meet with any adventures, lost people generally +do." + +"If we could come into a gipsies' camp with a huge fire and a pot of +stewed hares, it would be stunning! Or if we could find old Principle's +cave, that would be better still!" + +They were stumbling on, Roy gasping and panting for breath, and Dudley +every minute or two giving a shout, when suddenly almost as if he had +risen from the ground, a lad appeared in front of them. + +"We're lost," shouted Dudley; "who are you? Can you tell us where +Crockton village is?" + +"Ay, can't I! You're only about four mile off!" + +"Is it straight on?" questioned Roy, wistfully. + +"No, you're goin' away from it." + +The lad stood looking down at the two small boys and there was some pity +in his tone. + +"The little 'un is dead beat. Here--let me hoist you on my back, I'd as +lief go to Crockton as anywhere else to-night, and I know every inch of +these hills, I've been looking after cattle here since I were a babby! +There now, ain't that better?" + +Roy was too tired out to resist, though he made a faint protest, and +Dudley seeing him comfortably settled on the broad shoulders of the lad, +trotted along contentedly by his side. + +"How did you find us? Did you hear us shouting?" + +"I was trapping some moles close to yer, as ye came on." + +"Where do you live? And what's your name?" + +"I'm called Rob. I don't live nowheres now. Got chucked out last night!" + +And Rob gave a short laugh as he spoke. + +"Where from?" + +"Well, you see there's a lot of us, and the old woman--she's my +stepmother--she told me she wouldn't keep me no longer. My father--he +died last year, and work is hard to get. I'll tramp into some town and +try my luck there." + +"Then where were you going to sleep to-night?" + +"Sleep? Oh, bless yer--there's plenty o' room and accommodation in the +open. And I haven't been about these parts for so long without knowing +many a snug corner. I could show yer plenty a one. My pet one has been +found out by some old chap lately. He goes into it and digs up +quantities o' stones and then sits and hugs them, all as if they was +gold! I laugh to see him sometimes!" + +"Why that must be old Principle, and that's the cave he thinks so much +of! He looks for bones." + +Rob gave another of his hearty laughs. + +"Well, if he has a taste that way, why don't he go to a churchyard, +he'll dig to more success there." + +"No, it's only animals' bones he likes, very, very old ones." + +They tramped on, and then Roy asked if he could be put down, and Dudley +given a lift instead. Rob good-naturedly assented, but some minutes were +spent in altercation between the two boys before Dudley would consent +to this arrangement. + +"You're as tired as I am," persisted Roy. + +"Oh, no, I'm not--at least it's only my legs. You see I haven't a chest +like you. I'll manage, it's always you that gets home ill, I never do." + +"I can't help it," said Roy, in a shaky voice; "I know I shall never be +good for anything, I don't think I'm much better than a girl, I suppose +I ought to have been made one." + +Roy was always in the depths of misery when he came to this climax, and +Dudley hastened to reassure him. + +"Rot! You're as good a walker as I any day. Yes, I'll have a ride on +your back, Rob, if you like. I'm nearly done for, and Roy looks quite +fresh again." + +There was great commotion when the trio reached the Manor at last. Miss +Bertram came out into the hall to greet them with an anxious face. + +"Oh, you scamps! You'll turn my hair grey before long. Where have you +been? Half the village has turned out to look for you! What mischief +have you been up to?" + +When the explanation was given Miss Bertram gave a little groan. + +"If we are going to have these kind of expeditions, I really must insist +upon your leaving off trying to do other people good. Old Roger told me +he found his donkey quite early in the afternoon. Now come off to bed +both of you. I believe nurse is already getting her poultice ready in +anticipation of a bad night, Jonathan!" + +"What is Rob going to do?" Roy asked, shortly after, when he was +comfortably tucked up in bed, and was enjoying a hot basin of bread and +milk. Miss Bertram had just come in to see how he was. + +"Is that the lad that brought you back? He is having a good supper in +the kitchen, and then will go home, I suppose." + +"But he hasn't any home," said Roy, putting down his spoon and looking +at his aunt with an anxious face; "he can't get work, so his mother +turned him out of doors, and I want him to come and live with us, and +when I grow up he shall be my servant!" + +Miss Bertram laughed. + +"My dear boy, not quite so fast. I shall not turn him out to-night, if +he has no home to go to; but we cannot keep a lot of idle boys about the +establishment." + +Roy's brown eyes filled with tears. It was so rarely that he showed his +feelings that his aunt began to wonder whether he was not too weak and +exhausted from his walk to be talked to. + +"Don't worry your little head over him," she said, kindly; "go to +sleep, and I'll let you see him to-morrow morning." + +"Have you ever been lost, Aunt Judy?" + +Roy was struggling for self-command, and his voice was very quiet. + +"No, I'm thankful to say I never have." + +"I prayed to God," he went on solemnly; "that He would send some one to +show us the way home, and Rob was the answer. And when he took me up on +his shoulders and I knew he was taking me home, I thought of that +picture over there!" + +Roy pointed to a print of the Good Shepherd with the lost sheep across +his shoulders, and Miss Bertram's face softened as she stooped and +kissed her little nephew. + +"Good-night dear. We will see what can be done." + +She left the room and when nurse came bustling up to see if the bread +and milk had disappeared she found her little charge gazing dreamily in +front of him. + +"Come, dearie, eat your supper. Don't you feel easier?" + +"I was thinking," Roy said, slowly bringing back his gaze to the basin +before him; "that if you're very strong you miss a lot of comfort; and +however big and strong I grow up to be, I hope I shan't be too big and +strong to be carried by Him!" + +He pointed to the picture again, and good old nurse responded, + +"If you outgrow the Lord, you'll outgrow heaven!" + + + + +VI + + +ROB + +Roy was not allowed to go to the Rectory the next morning as it was +rather damp, and nurse was carefully trying to ward off a bronchial +attack, but he was permitted to see Rob, and the latter came in looking +rather sheepish and as if he did not know what to do with his hands and +his feet. + +"What are you going to do, Rob?" asked Roy, eagerly, after their first +greetings had been exchanged; "you aren't going home again?" + +"I'd sooner be shot," was the short reply. + +"I've been talking to Aunt Judy about you again this morning, and she +says if you would like to help our old gardener in the garden and could +get a character from some one, she'd try you. I don't quite know what +she means about the character. I thought that belonged to you and not to +any one else. She says she doesn't know what you're like, but I told her +I'd find out. I say, take a chair, won't you. Now then, you don't mind +my asking you a few questions, do you? Are you a thief?" + +Rob took the chair that was offered him, squared his shoulders, and +looked up with a pleasant smile at this blunt question. + +"No, I ain't that." + +"Have you ever killed anybody?" + +"No." + +"Are you a drunkard?" + +"I hate the stuff!" + +"Are you a fighter?" + +"Well, no, not a reg'lar one. I can't say I've never knocked a feller +down, or squared up with him a bit, but I don't fight till I'm driven to +it." + +"Are you a liar?" + +"No." + +Roy drew a sigh of relief, then continued: "Well, if you aren't any of +those, I'm sure Aunt Judy will have you, I told her I knew you weren't +wicked." + +"But I ain't no scholar," said Rob, doubtfully; "I can't write nor read, +and that's against a feller!" + +"Oh, well, you won't have to read and write much in the garden. Old Hal +can't read either, and he makes a cross for his name when he has to +write it. But I suppose you can learn, can't you?" + +Rob nodded. + +"You see I played truant mostly when I was sent to school, and then I +began to mind the cattle soon after I were eight year old, but if any +body would start me, I believe I could pick it up." + +"I'll teach you myself when I've nothing else to do," said Roy, grandly; +"for I want you to be clever. I want you to come with me, when I'm grown +up, to my big house. You shall be my head servant, and live with me +always. Would you like that?" + +Rob grinned, and seemed to think it a great joke. + +Roy continued: "Of course I shall want you more when Dudley goes away. +He has got a stepfather, so when he grows up he will go out to India, I +expect, to live with him, but we don't talk of it, and we pretend we're +never going to leave each other. Did you find Dudley very much heavier +to carry than me?" + +"Well, yes, he were a bit heavier." + +"I'm afraid I shall never catch him up, he is nearly a head taller, and +he seems to grow quicker every month. I grow so slowly. I think it is +because I lie in bed so much more than he does, I'm always having to go +to bed in the daytime when I'm ill, and that must keep you from growing, +don't you think so?" + +The conversation was here interrupted by Miss Bertram's entrance. She +had a long talk with Rob, and in the end took him for a month on trial, +as she had known his father. + +The boys were delighted, but Roy still persisted in regarding him as +his special protégé, and more than once this had occasioned a heated +argument between the two cousins. + +"He doesn't belong to you. You order him about as if he were your +servant," said Dudley, impatiently, one afternoon after Roy had sent Rob +on more than one errand to the house for him. + +"Well, so he will be one day," returned Roy, flushing up. + +They were seated again in their favorite corner on the wall, some ripe +plums having just been handed up to them by the obliging Rob, and Dudley +having put an extra big one in his mouth was speechless for a moment. + +"I suppose you'll get so fond of Rob, that you won't want me any +longer," he said, after some consideration. + +"Rob is my servant, but you're a friend and relation," asserted Roy. + +"He is an opportunity, and a pretty big one, isn't he?" + +"Why, yes; I never thought of that! How splendid!" + +Roy's large eyes were shining, and he gazed with tender pride at Rob who +was now sweeping the lawn. + +"We have done him good already, haven't we?" pursued Dudley, +reflectively; "only he started by doing us good. I tell you what we +might do for him. Teach him to read." + +Roy looked very doubtful. + +"It is so difficult, and he seems so stupid. I did try the other day, +for he asked me to; but I never thought any body _could_ be so stupid! I +told him we would have to give it up, for it made me lose my temper so. +I thought perhaps he could go to old Principle. You see he is too big +for school, but old Principle is always saying he likes to teach people +things." + +"Well, that is awfully funny," said Dudley, pointing down to the pine +woods opposite them. "Talk of him and there he is! Isn't that him +walking along over there? Look--now he's stooping down to look at +something. I'm sure it's old Principle; we'll call him!" + +Two shrill boyish voices rang out, "Old Principle! Hi! We want you! Old +Principle!" + +Soon after old Principle was standing beneath the wall, having obeyed +the summons. + +He stood looking up at them with his straw hat pushed to the back of his +head, and his keen, piercing eyes twinkling kindly under his thick, +shaggy eyebrows. + +"Well, laddies, you're above me now. 'Tisn't often you can look down at +old Principle from such a superior height." + +"We want to ask you if we may send Rob down to you for you to teach him +to read," said Roy, eagerly. + +"And why have not two idle boys more time than a busy shopkeeper to do +such a thing?" demanded the old man. + +"Oh, well, you see," explained Roy, confusedly; "grown-up people know +how to teach, and boys don't. Besides, we aren't idle, we work hard at +lessons all the morning, and we have half an hour's prep after tea." + +Old Principle shook his head. + +"And you're the lad for making people better, and doing good to all. +'Tis a bad principle, my boy, to wait for great opportunities, and let +the small ones go!" + +"Do you think we ought to teach him?" questioned Dudley. + +"If he wants to learn, and you have the time, you will be letting the +opportunity slip, that's all. And moreover old Principle isn't going to +be the one to help you do it." + +The old man turned his back upon them and walked into the pine wood +again, leaving the two boys gazing after him with perturbed faces. + +"He's rather cross this afternoon," observed Dudley. + +"I s'pose he thinks it's for our good. Shall we try again? Could you +teach him one day, and me the next? That wouldn't be quite so tiring." + +Rob was called upon and consulted, and it was finally arranged that +every afternoon from two to three he should have a reading lesson on the +top of the garden wall. + +"We shan't feel sleepy here, and it's the time everybody else is taking +a nap," said Roy, trying to take a cheerful view of it. "I'm going to +try and be very patient and not be cross once, for you're our +opportunity, or one of them, isn't he, Dudley?" + +Dudley nodded. "The biggest we've had yet," he said. + +Rob grinned and went away delighted. He was a steady, honest lad, +devoted to both boys; but especially to Roy, who, without Dudley's +constant remonstrance, would have tyrannized over him to his heart's +content. Miss Bertram left them alone; she exercised a certain +supervision over Rob's work, but never objected to his joining her +little nephews' amusements. + +"They will not learn any harm from him," she told her mother; "and he +may teach them many things that are good." + +So it came to pass that reading lessons took place regularly every day +on the top of the wall, and Rob's eagerness to master all hard words, +and his humble diffidence, when his little teachers waxed wrath with +him, was touching to witness. Sometimes conversation would bear a large +part in the lessons, especially when Roy was the teacher. And Dudley +would always insist on having a break for refreshments. + +"You will be able to write letters for me, Rob, when I grow up," said +Roy, one afternoon, pausing in the lesson. "I don't like writing +letters, and I'm thinking of travelling round the world and discovering +countries, so I shall have to write home sometimes. You will come with +me, won't you?" + +"For certain I will," was the emphatic reply. + +"I've been thinking," pursued Roy, thoughtfully, as he let his gaze +wander from the book between them to the top of the dark pines swaying +gently in the summer breeze; "that I may be quite strong enough when I +grow up to be a discoverer. You see I can't be a soldier or sailor, but +I haven't anything the matter with me but a weak chest, and doctors say +sea voyages and travelling do weak chests good sometimes. Do you think +I'm a very poor body to look at, Rob? That's what some of the villagers +say I am, but my head and legs and arms are all right. I'm not a cripple +or a hunchback, or blind, or deaf, or dumb, so I must be very glad of +that. What do you think?" + +"You're just as straight and plucky as Master Dudley, and you'll grow +up a big, strong man, I dare say," said Hob, sympathetically. + +"Old Principle says you may be a maker, a mender, or a breaker in your +life. I want to be a maker. And I should like to find a country and make +it into a nice big town. I want to do something big. I ask God every day +to let me find something to do." + +"Do you believe in--in God?" asked Rob, rather sheepishly. + +"Of course I do; what do you mean? Don't you?" + +"I don't know. I don't know much about Him, only you often talk as if +you're--well quite friends with Him, and I've wondered at it." + +Roy brought down his gaze from the hilltops to his companion's face with +grave interest. + +"I've known God since I was a baby," he said. "I don't remember when I +didn't know Him. Nurse used to talk to me when I was very small, and +when my father was dying he called me to him, and said,--'Fitz Roy! +Serve God first, then your Queen, and then your fellow men!' I've always +remembered it, only you know we don't talk about these things, and I've +only told Dudley. I'm trying to serve God--you don't want to be very +strong to do that; but I'm longing to serve the Queen, and when Mr. +Selby talked to us of opportunities for doing good to all men I've been +longing to find them ever since. Don't you know much about God, Rob?" + +Rob shook his head. "I used to larn He made the world and me, and I know +He'll punish the wicked, but I've never tried to serve Him, and--and I +don't think as how I care about it." + +"P'raps you don't know about Jesus Christ?" asked Roy, solemnly. + +"Well, yes, I used to larn about Him when I was a kid at the +Sunday-school. I know He came into the world to save people, but I never +rightly understood why, nor what difference it makes." + +"I'll be able to tell you that. If He hadn't died, I suppose I shouldn't +have cared about serving God because it would have been no use--nothing +would have been any use, for we should all have had to go to hell when +we died, to punish us for our sins. We could never have got to heaven at +all." + +"If we had been very good I reckon we could," put in Rob, knitting his +brows with this aspect of the subject. + +"But you see the Bible says we can't be good, not one of us--the devil +won't let us." + +"But there are good people in the world." + +"You interrupt so," said Roy, a little impatiently. "I was going to +tell you. Jesus died to let God be able to forgive us and take us to +heaven. It's rather difficult to explain, but God punished Him _instead_ +of us, do you see? So now we can all go to heaven, and the reason we try +to be good is to please Jesus because He has loved us, and the reason we +are able to be good is because Jesus helps us to be, and He can fight +the devil better than we can. There, I think I've told you it right. Now +shall we go on with the reading?" + +Rob said no more till after the lesson was over, then he said slowly, +"It's rather strange, that what you were a tellin' me, but I don't see +it quite. P'raps another day you'll tell me again." + +"If you make haste and read, I'll give you a Bible, and then you'll be +able to read about it yourself. Of course you ought to be serving God +just as much as anybody else, and you'd better begin at once!" + +Saying which Roy scrambled down from his high perch and raced across the +garden to the stables where he had settled to meet Dudley; whilst Rob +descended more slowly, muttering to himself, "'Tis a good thing not to +be afraid of God like Master Roy, but I doubt if I should ever get to +serve Him!" + + + + +VII + + +A WALNUT STOKY + +"I say, Dudley, do come out for a ride! Aunt Judy is with granny, and +she says the house must be quiet, and I hate being in a quiet house. +Come on! What are you doing?" + +Roy finished his sentence by springing on Dudley's back, and as he was +in a crouching attitude in a corner of the old nursery, he brought him +flat to the ground by his unexpected attack. For a minute or two both +boys rolled on the ground in each other's clutches, and feet and hands +were having a busy time of it. Then Dudley sprang to his feet. + +"I like you coming in to tell me to be quiet, and then beginning a fight +at once! Do shut up! You've quite spoilt my last letter!" + +"Well, what are you doing?" + +"I'm carving my name in the corner here, just below my father's." + +Roy looked with curiosity at Dudley's handiwork. + +"Yes, your M is very crooked; but I wouldn't choose to write my name on +the wainscoting. It's too low down. I like to be at the top of +everything. Now if you carved it on the ceiling that would be something +like!" + +"You're always wanting to do impossibilities!" + +"I should like to have a try at them," rejoined Roy, quickly. "I hate +everything that is easy. Now come on, do! and we'll have a good gallop +over the down!" + +Half an hour later and the boys were tearing through the village on +their ponies, and were soon out on an open expanse of heather and grass. + +Roy was in the midst of an eloquent harangue on all he was going to do +when he was grown up, when Dudley suddenly came to a standstill. + +"Something is the matter with Hazel. I believe she's going lame. Oh, I +see, one of her shoes is loose! Now what are we to do!" + +He sprang off his pony as he spoke, and looked perplexed at this +calamity. + +"Lead her on gently," was Roy's ready advice. "We aren't far off from +C----, and I know there's a blacksmith there." + +Dudley grumbled a little at having his ride spoiled in this fashion; but +it was not long before they reached the neighboring village, and the +smith's forge was soon found. + +Then, whilst Hazel was being attended to, Roy suggested that they +should go and see an old lady, a great friend of their aunt's, who lived +just outside the village. + +"She might ask us to tea," suggested Roy, "and she has awfully nice cake +always going. I'll leave my pony here, and we'll call again for them on +our way back." + +"I don't like paying visits," objected Dudley, a little crossly. + +"But Mrs. Ford isn't half bad to talk to, she's full of stories." + +And by dint of these two baits, "cake" and "stories," Dudley's shyness +was overcome, and the two boys were soon walking up a sunny little +garden and knocking at the rose-covered door of "Clematis Cottage." + +It was a tiny house, but spotlessly clean and tidy, and the long, low, +dainty drawing-room into which they were shown had a sense of rest and +repose which insensibly affected even the boys' restless spirits. + +"A nice room to be ill in," was Roy's comment; "there would be such a +lot of jolly pictures and things to look at on the walls when you were +in bed." + +"I should like to sit here on Sunday," said Dudley. "I am sure I could +be still for quite half an hour!" + +The door opened and a little old lady in widow's cap and gown came +forward. She was a fragile, delicate-looking little woman, with a very +bright face and smile, and she beamed upon the boys delightedly. + +"My dear boys, this is quite a treat! I don't often get a visit from +young gentlemen. How is your grandmother? Have you brought me any +message from your aunt?" + +"Granny is not very well to-day," replied Roy, frankly, "and Aunt Judy +didn't know we were coming here. We have been riding, and Dudley's pony +has had to be shod, so we've left him at the blacksmith's and come on +here. You see we thought it would pass the time." + +"And so it will, and you shall have a nice cup of tea before you go +back. Why, what big boys you are growing! Which is the elder? I always +forget." + +"I am," said Roy, a little shamefacedly; "but of course most people +think Dudley is, because he is the biggest." + +"It's only two months and five days, though, between us," put in Dudley, +eagerly, knowing what a sore point his size was to Roy; "and you see, +Mrs. Ford, Roy's brain is much bigger than mine--Mr. Selby says it is, +so that makes us quits!" + +"And I wonder which has the biggest soul?" said Mrs. Ford, quaintly. + +The boys stared at her. + +"Shall I tell you a little story while we are waiting for tea?" she +asked, sitting down in her easy chair by the open window, and looking +first at the boys with loving interest, and then away to the sweet +country outside her garden. + +Roy gave Dudley a delighted nudge with his elbow. + +"Yes, please; we love a good rattling story; and make plenty of +adventures in it, won't you?" + +But Mrs. Ford shook her head with a little smile. + +"I can't tell you of fights with red Indians, and shipwrecks, and lion +hunts, and all such things as that; but you must take my story as it is, +and think over it in your quiet moments. + +"There was once an old garden. Flowers and fruit of every description +grew in it, and when no human creature was about the air was full of +flower laughter and fruit conversation. One day in autumn some saucy +sparrows were teasing a young walnut-tree that stood between an apple +and a pear-tree, opposite a wall which was covered with beautiful golden +plums. + +"'What are you here for?' they said, pecking at the round green balls +that hung on the tree, and then wiping their beaks in disgust on the +grass underneath. 'Ugh! you're sour and bitter and nasty enough to +poison a person! You're a disgrace to your master. The red and yellow +apples next door to you are delicious this warm day, and the pears make +one's mouth fairly water, while as to the plums over there--well, every +one is fighting for them, from the slugs and snails to every bird in the +country, and the boys and girls and men and women--all of us have to be +kept off by those horrible nets which the old gardener is continually +spreading!' + +"'I'm sure,' whispered the young walnuts, humbly, 'we don't mean any +harm. We don't quite know why we are here ourselves. We have been hoping +to see our green skins get red and yellow, and soft and ripe, like +everything else round us, but they seem to get harder and uglier as time +goes by. They feel very heavy, and our stems ache with holding them up; +do you think it just possible there may be something inside?' + +"'Inside!' laughed the sparrows; 'who ever heard of the inside being +better than the outside? You're stuffed with conceit, but nothing else.' + +"And away they flew, for they were not a year old themselves, and knew +nothing about autumn nuts and berries. + +"The walnuts sighed and appealed to an old crow flying by. + +"'Do you think we have been planted in this beautiful garden by +mistake?' they said. 'We have been waiting a long time to give pleasure +and to do good to those around us. The bees give us a wide berth--they +say they can get no honey from us; we have no sweet scent to please the +passer-by, no lovely blossoms to delight their eyes. The apples have had +blossoms and fruit, and all the other trees the same, yet here we hang +and grow, and the days go by and we're only laughed at for our ugliness +and want of sweetness.' + +"'Wait a little longer,' said the old crow; 'wait, and take pains to +grow!' + +"And the walnuts waited, and the sun kissed their hard skins, and the +rain refreshed them when dry and thirsty; and still the sparrows mocked +them, and the apple and pear-tree talked to each other over their heads, +for they too looked upon them as a failure. One day the biggest walnut +broke from his stem and dropped in the long grass. No one heeded his +fall except his brothers; the gardener came by and gathered the apples +and pears, but did not look at the walnut-tree; and when he kicked the +fallen walnut with his feet he took no more notice of it than if it had +been a pebble. + +"'Is that our fate?' sighed the walnuts. 'Now we know we are no good. +What is the use of trying to grow? What is the good of living at all +when we're so ugly and useless, and the end of us is to lie and rot in +the grass and be kicked by every one who passes?' + +"And they wept bitter tears of disappointment and mortification; and one +by one they dropped from the tree and lay unheeded, uncared for on the +ground below. + +"Then one morning came up the old crow. + +"'Why did you tell us to wait?' cried one walnut in petulant tones. +'We're rotting, dying here, and this is the end of us.' + +"'Wait a little longer,' said the crow again; 'it is when we are very +low that we are lifted very high. When we come to an end a new beginning +is coming.' + +"The walnuts sighed as he flew away; yet the biggest one turned with a +spark of hope to his brothers. + +"'I do believe we have been made for something. My skin is rotting and +dying, but in spite of it all I feel as if I have something inside that +is still alive. Let us wait and be patient a little longer.' + +"And then at last one day, when the apple and pear-tree were fruitless +and leafless, when the flowers and butterflies and bees had all +disappeared, down the garden came the master himself and the gardener. + +"He stopped when he came to the walnut-tree, and stooping down in the +long grass he gently raised one of the fallen nuts. + +"'You must gather these in,' he said to his gardener; 'we have a good +many for the first year.' + +"'Yes,' said the gardener, 'they are ready now. I've let them lie till +you saw them.' + +"And the walnuts whispered to themselves in surprised delight that it +was not neglect and indifference had left them there, but that the +gardener had watched each one fall, and knew where to find them when +their time came at last. + +"And when their green husks were removed, and their brown shells cracked +at the master's table, they discovered that the most valuable part of +them was what could not be seen by outsiders, and could only be brought +to light by the master's hand." + +"That's a kind of parable," said Roy when Mrs. Ford ceased speaking. + +"Yes," she said, smiling; "most people are like the sparrows: they think +it is only the outside you should go by. Now, when I see a person for +the first time I always wonder what their soul is like. If that is +beautiful it doesn't matter about their body. And a little body may +contain a very big soul." + +"Can we make our souls big?" asked Roy, with an anxious face. + +"They should be growing, my boy, day by day. Put them into the +Gardener's keeping and He will make them grow. It isn't the handsome and +the strong who do all the good in the world; very often it is just the +other way." + +"Then there is hope I may do something," said Roy, brightening up; "I +like that story about the walnuts, don't you, Dudley?" + +"Yes, I'll think of it when I crack them next," said Dudley. + +Tea was now brought in, and the boys did it full justice, and shortly +after they were on their homeward way. + +"She's a jolly old thing," remarked Dudley, presently, "and her cake was +awfully good. I'm glad we went to see her." + +Roy was unusually silent. Dudley continued-- + +"I expect you've got the biggest soul of us too, Roy; nurse is always +saying your soul is too big for your body." + +"I wish I had no body sometimes," said Roy, with a sigh; "it gets so +tired and stupid." + +"Well, we won't talk about souls and bodies any more," Dudley said, +quickly, "they aren't interesting. I say, do you think we could teach +Rob cricket?" + +Rob was a topic which always interested Roy. He brightened up at once. + +"We'll teach him everything," he said, eagerly. "I want him to be able +to read and write and play, and do everything that we do, and more +besides, for I shall have him for my friend as well as a servant when I +grow up." + +"A funny kind of chap for a friend," said Dudley, a little crossly; +"he's twice as old as you are, to begin with, and he's an awfully +stupid, thick-headed fellow." + +"Don't you like Rob?" + +Roy's tone was an astonished one. + +"Oh, I like him well enough, but I'm getting rather sick of hearing you +crack him up so." + +Roy changed the subject. He wondered sometimes why Dudley seemed to lose +his temper so over Rob; it never entered his head that Dudley might +regard him as a possible rival; that Rob, the country lad, might spoil +the covenant of friendship between them. + + + + +VIII + + +THE BERTRAMS' LEAP + +It was Roy's birthday, and he was standing at his bedroom window before +breakfast looking out into the old garden below, his busy brain full of +thought and conjecture. His birthday was a very important day to him, +and for some years now there had been a settled programme for the day. +His guardian, an old Indian officer living in the neighborhood, and +formerly a very old friend of his father's, always came over to see him +and stayed to lunch, the two boys joining their elders at that meal. +Directly after, they would drive or ride over to Norrington Court which +was Roy's future home, and stay there for the rest of the day. + +The boy's heart was full of the future as usual, and when Dudley burst +into his room with a radiant face to offer his good wishes, he turned to +meet him gravely. + +But Dudley was too occupied in tugging in a small basket to notice it. + +"This is my present, old chap. Just open it and see if you don't like +it." + +Roy's little face became illumined with smiles a moment after, when he +saw two beautiful little white mice amongst the straw looking up at him +with calm curiosity out of their bright beady eyes. + +"They're tame," said Dudley, delightedly; "old Principle has had them, +taming them for over a month. Their names are Nibble and Dibble. Look! +This is Dibble with the little black spot on his nose. You never +guessed, did you? I've been down to see them lots of times and they'll +eat food out of my hand. You just see!" + +Roy was too excited over his mice to eat much breakfast, and when Rob +came up to him immediately afterward with a new cricket ball, bought out +of his small wages, he declared he was the "luckiest fellow in the +world." + +Miss Bertram presented him with a handsome writing case, and every one +of the servants had some trifle to offer him. At ten o'clock he went to +his grandmother's room. + +This was also part of the programme. + +Mrs. Bertram received him very impressively, as was her wont. + +"Sit down, Fitz Roy; you are getting a big boy; have you been measured +this morning?" + +"Yes, granny, and I really have grown an inch and a half since last +year. That isn't very bad, is it?" + +"Your father was very much taller at your age. I cannot understand it." + +Roy began to feel rather depressed. "General Newton will be here soon, +I suppose," continued Mrs. Bertram, precisely, "and I wish you to convey +him a message from me. Give him my very kind regards, and ask him to +excuse me from coming down to see him this morning. I have had a very +bad night, and am not feeling fit for any extra fatigue. I hope he will +find you improved in manners and appearance. I could wish you talked and +laughed less and thought more. You must endeavor to realize your +responsibilities when you visit Norrington Court this afternoon. It is a +very large and important property for a little boy like you to be heir +to, and I hope you will fill the position worthily when you come of age. +Your uncle was the most respected and honored man in the county, and if +your dear father had lived to come back from Canada, he would have +walked in your uncle's steps." + +"And who will walk in mine when I'm dead, granny?" + +"My dear, you must learn not to interrupt grown-up people when they are +speaking." + +"I'm very sorry, but do tell me if I died before I grew up, would Dudley +have my house?" + +"Yes, by the terms of the will he would, as his father came next in age +to yours." + +"That is what Aunt Judy means, when she calls me Jonathan and says when +I brag, that I must remember my namesake never came to the throne at +all. I like to think that Dudley may have it, he would make a grander +master than me, wouldn't he?" + +Mrs. Bertram gave a little sigh. Roy's delicacy was a sore point with +her, and she could never get reconciled to his small stature. + +"Well," said Roy, after a pause; "I'll do my very best, granny, to grow +up a big strong man. I take my tonics now whenever nurse gives them to +me, and I never pour them out of the window as I used to do. And I'm +hoping to do something great before I die, and I'm trying to grow up a +good man. Do you think that will do?" he added, a little anxiously, as +he fancied his grandmother's gaze rested on him with some +dissatisfaction. + +She did not reply, only drew out her purse from her pocket, and Roy knew +this was a signal for his dismissal. + +"Now," said Mrs. Bertram, "this is the sovereign that I usually give +you. I hope you will spend it wisely. Tell me when it is gone what you +have done with it. I hope you will spend a happy day. Give me a kiss and +leave me. Oh, if only you were more like your handsome father!" + +Roy took his gift, thanked her for it, and giving his grandmother a +kiss, left the room very quietly. + +Outside the door he paused on the door-mat, and drew his jacket across +his eyes with a strangled sob. + +"It's a pity God won't make me strong, but I don't seem to be able to do +it myself." + +And then with a shout for Dudley, a minute after he was tearing round +the house, showing his pet mice to all, and chattering away as if he had +not a care upon him. + +General Newton arrived soon after and took a more cheering view of his +ward's appearance than had his grandmother. + +"You'll grow into a splendid fellow yet," he said, patting him on the +shoulder, "and you'll out-top your cousin. Have you been in many scrapes +lately?" + +"They're good boys on the whole," replied Miss Bertram, smiling; "except +when they try to be philanthropists, and then they come to grief." + +"Oh, that's the last idea, is it? When I was here before they were going +to be travelling peddlers. Have you made a choice of any profession yet, +either of you?" + +"Yes, I'm going to be a traveller and discoverer," said Roy, with +decision. + +"Oh, indeed! Then you've still the love for exploration. How is your +friend old Principle? Is he still unearthing wonders and keeping them in +his kettles?" + +"He is busy in a cave now," said Dudley, eagerly; "would you like to +come and see it one day?" + +"No, thank you. And are you lads still devoted friends?" + +"David and Jonathan, still," said Miss Bertram; and the old general +laughed heartily. + +Before he left, he also gave Roy a sovereign, which made the little +fellow confide to Dudley, + +"I've put granny's in my right hand pocket, and the general's in my +left, they won't mix together well, because hers is such a solemn one, +and his is so jolly!" + +It was a happy little party that set off for Norrington Court. The boys +were on their ponies, and Miss Bertram in her pony trap, with Rob +sitting behind, proud in the consciousness of a new suit of clothes, and +delighted at being included in the number. + +Up a long stately avenue of elms and beeches, with bracken and ferns +covering mossy glades in the distance, and then Roy and Dudley flung +themselves off their ponies before an old stone house with ivy-covered +walls and turrets. Everything had been brightened up for their visit. +The flowers on the terraces were one mass of sweet perfume and color, +the drives weeded and rolled, and the velvet turf in only such a +condition as centuries of care can make it. The old housekeeper opened +the door in her very best black silk, and two or three more faithful +retainers stood in the background. + +Roy spoke to them all with boyish frankness and grace, and then eagerly +demanded if tea might be on the terrace. Miss Bertram agreed and while +she went indoors for a chat with the housekeeper, the boys tore round +the place dragging Rob after them. The stables of course were visited, +and an old groom who had known the boys' fathers when boys, welcomed +them with great warmth. + +"Ye must grow quicker, Master Fitz Roy. We want to see you here among +us. I'm looking to see all these stalls occupied by hunters and sich +like again. 'Tis mournful work to live year in and year out with only +two bosses for company!" + +"Tell us about the old times, Ben, do!" + +Ben sat down and spread his hands out on his knees reflectively. + +"All the young gentlemen were born riders," he said, slowly; "I mind how +Master Randolph would tear up the avenue after a long ride. 'There, Ben' +he'd say to me, chucking me the rein, and jumpin' off as light as a +feather, 'we've worked our spirits h'off--Ruby and me!' When the old +squire were alive, he'd have all three young gentlemen up, and then he'd +mount them and bring them down to Ruddocks stream, and see them jump it. +He used to say, 'No grandson of mine is worth calling a Bertram if he +can't take that leap before he is twelve year old!' They all did it +before they was ten, and he used to stand chuckling and rubbing his +hands as he saw them do it." + +"Is that the stream at the bottom of the back meadow?" asked Dudley, +eagerly; "the one with the hedge in front?" + +"Ay, to be sure!" + +"But we have never jumped it," exclaimed Roy. "And I think we ought to +for we're his great-grandsons." + +"We shan't be twelve for a long time yet," said Dudley, "but we really +ought to try." + +"Well, we'll do it this evening after tea; and you shall come and see us +do it, Ben." + +Ben grinned from ear to ear. + +"You'll go over it like a bird, if so be as your pony is accustomed to +sich things!" + +"We haven't taken very high jumps," admitted Dudley, candidly. + +"Oh, we shall do it," said Roy, with a little toss of his head; "we'll +_make_ them go over!" + +And then they turned to other subjects. + +"What do you think of my house, Rob?" asked Roy, later on as he was +escorting his humble friend through the empty rooms and corridors +upstairs. + +"It'll take a powerful number of people to fill it," said Rob, with awe. + +"I shall have a lot of friends to stay with me, of course, and then I +shall marry; men always do that, don't they?" + +"I b'lieve they mostly does," was the grave reply. + +"And won't you like to come and live with me here?" + +"That I should." + +"Well," said Dudley, from a few paces behind; "if you're going to +travel, you won't use your house much, Roy. If Rob is going to be your +follower, I'll come and live here when you're abroad, and when you come +home, I'll go away." + +"No you won't, you know we shall want you too." + +And seeing the frown on Dudley's face, Roy turned back and linked his +arm in his. "Look here," he added, "Rob shall be your follower as well +as mine, and we will all go out to look for a new country together, and +when we've found it, we will come back and have a jolly time in this old +house." + +"I shall have to work for my living," Dudley replied, gruffly. + +"Yes. I was thinking," and the earnest look came into Roy's eyes as he +spoke; "I was thinking this morning, I mustn't just live as I like to +live when I grow up. There will be an awful lot to be done. Old +Principle was telling me the other day that the reason some people are +overworked is because other people don't work enough, and an idle man +puts his burden of work on other people's backs." + +"We don't want old Principle's sermons here," exclaimed Dudley, having +recovered his good humor. "Aren't you awfully hungry? I'm sure tea must +be ready." + +They went to the terrace where a most elaborate repast was set out, +which they thoroughly enjoyed. After it was over all the servants came +up to drink Roy's health; the old butler Pike made a little speech, and +Roy responded; his words lingering in the memories of those who heard +him for long afterward. + +Miss Bertram, as she looked at his upright, slender little figure, and +noted the intense emphasis with which he spoke, felt a pang go through +her, as she wondered if his frail young life would be cut short before +he reached manhood. + +"I'm awfully much obliged to you all for your good wishes. I'm +determined when I grow up and come to live with you that I'll do all +the good I can to everybody. I hope I'm getting stronger, and I think I +may be able to do as much as other people. But whatever I am, I promise +you I'll do my very best for the property!" + +Then three cheers were given for the little master; and after the +ceremony was over, Miss Bertram told her little nephews to amuse +themselves quietly for another half hour before they returned home. + +Their plans were already arranged, and they went straight to the stables +for their ponies to try the leap the old groom had mentioned to them. + +He had already saddled them, and a few minutes after, they came through +the small paddock in front of the spot. + +It was rather an awkward hedge, though not a very high one with a broad +stream of running water the other side. + +Old Ben began to get a little nervous as he saw the boys eyeing the leap +rather doubtfully. + +"Has the hedge grown since our fathers were little boys?" asked Dudley. + +"A wee bit, perhaps, though we do keep it cut pretty much to the same +level. It's a deal thicker than it used to be, but don't you try it if +you hain't sure of your ponies. It 'ud be a awful thing if you hurt +yourself and couldn't do it!" + +[Illustration: "'He's dead, Ben! he's dead!"] + +"If we try it at all, we shall do it," said Roy, spiritedly, and then +he and Dudley rode back to put their steeds to a gallop. + +Old Ben watched them breathlessly. Dudley seemed to be hesitating. + +"I say, old fellow, don't let us do it to-night." + +Roy's look was one of astonishment mingled with a little contempt. + +"Not do it! Are you afraid?" + +Dudley's color rose. "I'm not afraid of our courage," he said, boldly, +"but of our ponies: they have never been accustomed to it." + +"Then they can learn to-night. Now then, there's plenty of room for us +both abreast. One--two--three--off! Hurrah for the Bertrams!" + +The ponies were fresh, the hedge was cleared; but as old Ben was in the +act of waving his cap aloft to give a cheer--there was a crash--a sharp +cry--and a sickening thud the other side of the hedge. And when the old +groom with beating heart and trembling limbs, reached the farther bank, +Roy and his horse were prostrate on the ground. Dudley had cleared it +safely, and now having flung himself from his horse was leaning over Roy +in agony of terror. + +"He's dead, Ben--he's dead--his pony rolled over him--oh, fetch a +doctor, quick!" + +Ben took the unconscious little figure in his arms, with a heavy groan; +and Dudley tore on to the house almost frantic with fright. + +Every one was in confusion at once, but it was Rob who tore off for the +doctor, and brought him in an incredibly short time, considering that he +lived three miles away. + +To Dudley, listening outside the bedroom door, it seemed years before +the doctor came out, and when he did, he was too overcome to speak to +him. But seeing the white unnerved face of the boy, Doctor Grant put his +hand kindly on his shoulder. + +"Cheer up, my boy, it might have been worse--he is only stunned, and leg +broken. I hope he will pull round again." + +And then Dudley burst into a passionate fit of tears, with relief at the +doctor's words. + + + + +IX + + +MAKING HIS WILL + +It was long before the cousins met; Roy's delicate constitution had +received such a shock that his condition for some time was a cause of +grave anxiety. His leg did not heal, and then the terrible word was +whispered through the house "amputation"! + +It was a lovely evening in September when after a long talk with the +doctor in the library Miss Bertram came out, her usually determined face +quivering with emotion. + +"I will tell him to-night, Doctor Grant, and we shall be ready for you +to-morrow afternoon at three." + +She went upstairs, and Dudley with scared eyes having heard her speech +now crept out of the house after the doctor. + +"Look here, Doctor Grant," he said, confronting him with an almost +defiant air: "you're not going to make Roy a cripple!" + +"I'm going to save his life, if I can," said the doctor, half sadly, as +he looked down upon the sturdy boy in front of him. + +"He won't live with only one leg, I know he won't, it will be too much +of a disgrace to him; he'll die of grief, I know he will! Oh, Doctor +Grant, you might have pity on him, it isn't fair!" + +"Would you rather see him die in lingering pain?" enquired the doctor, +gravely. + +"Oh, I think it so awful! Why should he be the one to be smashed up. +Look at me! I know everybody thinks it a pity it wasn't me. It would +have made us so much more equal. Why should I be so strong, and he so +weak! I tell you what! I've heard a story about joining on other men's +legs. Now tell me, could you do it? Could you give him one of mine? I'd +let you cut it off this minute--to-night, if you only would. If it would +make him walk straight!" + +Dudley seized hold of the doctor's coat excitedly, and Doctor Grant saw +his whole soul was in his words. + +"I'm afraid that would be an impossible feat, my boy. No--keep your own +legs to wait upon him, and cheer him up all you can." + +"Cheer him up!" was the fierce retort; "what could cheer him! I know he +won't be able to live a cripple. He always says he is straight and +upright though his chest is weak, and now when he knows it's no use +trying to be strong any more, for he'll never be able to--when he knows +he won't be able to play cricket, or football, or even climb the wall or +run races--oh, it's awful--it will break his heart, and I wish I was +dead!" After which passionate speech Dudley dashed away, and the doctor +continued his walk shaking his head and muttering, "It's a bad lookout +for the little fellow!" + +Dudley ran across the lawn in his misery, and then nearly tumbled over +Rob who was lying on the grass, his face hidden in his arms. He looked +up and his eyes were red and swollen. + +"Master Dudley, is it true, is he going to lose his legs?" + +Dudley stood looking at him for a minute before he spoke, and then he +said, "Yes, it's all that hateful doctor!" + +Rob dropped his head on his arms again and a smothered groan escaped +him. + +Dudley continued his run out into the stableyard, from thence to the +road, and he never stopped till he reached old Principle's little +three-cornered shop. + +Old Principle was busy serving customers when he came in; he gave him a +friendly nod, and went on with his business whilst Dudley crept into the +little back parlor, and sitting down in an old horsehair chair tried to +recover his breath. It was not long before old Principle came after him. + +"Well, my laddie," he said, laying his hand on the curly head, "there's +sad news going through the village this morning, and I see by your face +that 'tis true!" + +Dudley nodded and then seizing hold of the old man's hand, leaned his +head against it and burst into tears. + +"Why does God do it!" he sobbed at length, "Roy is so much better than I +am, he's always trying to please God, though he never talks about it, +and I've prayed so hard that he might be made quite well!" + +"Ay, and the good Lord is making him well perhaps though not by the way +you planned. He might a been killed outright, and then what a trouble +you'd have been in." + +"This is nearly as bad," muttered Dudley. + +"Now, laddie, don't harden your heart, are you one of the Lord's own +children?" + +"I don't know. I don't think I love God as much as Roy does." + +"'Tis an awful bad principle," the old man continued, "to doubt and +complain directly we can't understand the Almighty's dealings with us. +He loves Master Roy better'n you and me, and the time will come when +we'll thank the Lord with all our hearts for this accident." + +This was utterly incomprehensible to Dudley. + +"I feel very badly about it," old Principle went on, "and so do you, +but the one I'm most sorry for is Ben Burkstone. I hear say he's fit to +kill himself with despair!" + +"Well," said Dudley, stopping his sobs for a minute; "I don't see it was +his fault; it was the stupid pony; he funked it, and then fell and broke +his knees; mine went over all right. Oh, why didn't it happen to me! If +I had been spilled, I wouldn't have minded, and one leg wouldn't have +been half so bad to me as to Roy!" + +"I reckon you'd have got your leg all right again without having to lose +it. 'Tis the laddie's delicate constitution that is so in his way. But I +think you'll find Master Roy as plucky over the loss of his leg as he +ever was. Now lift your heart up to God and ask Him that he may overrule +it all for good. There goes the shop-bell!" + +Old Principle disappeared, and Dudley soothed and comforted by his +sympathy, retraced his steps to the house. + +Meanwhile Miss Bertram had been going through the trying ordeal of +breaking the news to the little invalid. + +Roy was lying in bed, flushed and restless. His eyes looked unnaturally +large and bright, as he met his aunt's anxious gaze. + +"I'm so tired of pain, Aunt Judy, and I can't get to sleep." + +Miss Bertram sat down and smiled her brightest smile. + +Taking his thin little hand in hers she said tenderly, + +"Yes, dear, you've been a brave little patient, but I hope you won't +have much more to bear. You would like to be free from it, wouldn't +you?" + +"Am I going to die?" + +"We hope you're going to get quite well again, if God wills, and if you +will be a good boy and let the doctor cure you." + +Roy's eyes were fixed intently on his aunt now. + +"How are they going to cure me?" + +Then Miss Bertram nerved herself for the occasion. + +"Roy, dear, you have been so patient since you lay here, that I know you +will be patient over this. Doctor Grant says that your leg will never +heal as it is, but he is sure you will get well and strong again if--if +you will make up your mind to do without it." + +"Does that mean he is going to cut it off?" + +"Yes." + +Dead silence, broken only by the flapping of the window-curtains in the +breeze. Roy was not looking at his aunt now, but his eyes were fixed on +the distant hills through the open window. A blackbird now hovering on +some jasmine outside, suddenly lifted up his voice and burst into an +exultant song. A faint smile flickered about Roy's lips. + +"Do legs _never_ grow again like teeth?" + +The pathos of tone saved Miss Bertram from smiling at the comicality of +the question. + +"I'm afraid not, dear. Not until we reach heaven." + +Then there was silence again, broken at last by Roy's saying in a very +quiet tone,-- + +"I want to see Dudley." + +Miss Bertram rose from her seat, but first she stooped to kiss him. + +"You are quite a little hero," she said; "I will send David to you. My +poor little Jonathan!" + +A hot tear splashed on Roy's forehead; he put up his hand and stroked +his aunt's face. + +"Never mind, Aunt Judy, David made a better king than Jonathan would +have I expect. Don't call Dudley just yet--I--I want to be alone." + +Miss Bertram left him, but sat down outside his door on a broad window +ledge and cried like a child. + +And then a short time after, Dudley stole softly into the room and Roy's +arms were clinging round his neck. + +"Oh, Dudley, I've wanted you, kiss me!" + +"You're going to get well, old chap, aren't you? You'll soon be out in +the garden again." + +Dudley was speaking in the gruff quick tones he used when trying to hide +his feelings. + +"We'll talk about that presently," said Roy, lying back on his pillows +and making Dudley take a seat on his bed. "Dudley, do you know what a +will is?" + +"Yes; you've a strong will nurse always says." + +"No, not that kind of one. Uncle James left a will when he died saying +he left Norrington Court to father, and father left it to me. It's a +piece of thick paper they write it down on, and it has some sealing wax +on it. Aunt Judy showed me father's will once." + +Dudley did not look enlightened, so Roy went on,-- + +"I want you to get a piece of paper and write down my will for me. I +will tell you what to say." + +Dudley slipped out of the room obediently and returned with a sheet of +note paper, but this did not satisfy Roy. "It must be a large +sheet--very large," was his command. + +After some minutes' search Dudley came in with a sheet of foolscap, and +then with pen and ink he began to write at Roy's dictation: + +"When I am dead"-- + +But Dudley's pen stopped. "You are not going to die, Roy?" + +"I hope I am," was the unexpected reply; "I've been asking God to make +me. I shouldn't think many people lived after their legs were cut off: I +know I don't want to!" + +"But I want you to live," cried poor Dudley; "oh! Roy you couldn't be so +mean as to leave me all alone. Oh, do unsay that prayer of yours. You +mustn't die!" + +"I'm going to get quite ready to die," persisted Roy; "and if you really +loved me you wouldn't think of liking to see me alive hopping about on a +wooden leg, I couldn't do it." + +"Nelson lived with only one arm," said Dudley. + +Roy lay back on his pillows to consider this; then he said in a tired +voice: + +"Will you write what I want?" + +Dudley seized the pen and in round, childish hand wrote as follows: + + "When I am dead, Dudley is to have Norrington + Court for his very own, and he is to + live there instead of me. He can have Dibble + and Nibble too. Rob is to have my musical + box. I leave him my best tool box, and father's + red silk pocket-handkerchief which I + keep in the old tobacco pot on my chimneypiece. + I leave granny her sovereign which + she gave me, and my book 'Heroes of old + England.' Aunt Judy is to have my best + four-bladed knife, and my prayer book. I + want old Principle to have my silver mug and + my new writing case. I leave nurse the sovereign + my guardian gave me to get herself some + new shoes, and I leave her my Bible." + +Thus far; then Roy gave a tired sigh. Dudley having entered completely +into the spirit of the thing looked up and said eagerly, "There's your +telescope, you know, Roy! If you leave it to me, I'll let you look +through it when we're off on our travels." + +"I shall never travel with no legs--besides I shall be dead. I'll leave +my telescope to you." + +Dudley subsided at once; then after a silence he asked meekly, "Is that +enough?" + +"Yes, I'm so tired, put--'I leave all my old clothes to the village +boys, and my cricket bat and stumps to Ben'--but wait a minute, +Dudley--there are all the servants, and I've got such heaps of books and +toys--I think we'll leave it like that." + +Dudley looked at his paper with some pride. + +"I've only made six mistakes and three blots," he said; "now may I drop +the sealing wax over it? I've got a lovely red piece in my pocket." + +"I think I have to write my name at the bottom first, I know father did. +Give me the pen." + +Dudley handed it, and wondered why Roy's fingers shook so as he signed +his name. + +"Is that all?" + +"No, wait a moment. I want to write something myself." + +And then in a large scrawl at the bottom of the paper Roy wrote-- + + "This boy died before he had time to serve + the Queen, he tried to serve God, and he tried + to do good to some people, only they turned + out mistakes. He hopes the Queen will forgive + him; he knows God will. Amen." + +Dudley read this with awe. + +"And is that a will?" he asked. + +"Yes, let me drop some sealing wax; fetch a candle!" + +Dudley was longing to do this part himself, but he generously said +nothing, and presented Roy with a brass button out of his pocket, to +stamp on the hot wax. + +A lot of sealing wax was dropped indiscriminately all over the paper, +and then old nurse appeared on the scene to order Dudley off. + +"You've been far too long with him already, to my mind," she said; "if +Miss Bertram wasn't beside herself she would never have given you +permission at all; he ought to have been kept extra quiet, and he's +worked himself all in a fever again." She put Roy gently back on his +pillows, and did not notice in her short-sightedness the roll of paper +being stuffed under his pillow. Dudley's spirits sank to zero, now he +was about to be dismissed. + +"Good-bye, Roy, ask to see me again, won't you?" + +Roy held out his hand. + +"I'll talk about it to-morrow," he said, faintly. + +And Dudley crept out of the room feeling more forlorn and wretched than +ever. + + + + +X + + +A CRIPPLE + +It was all over; two doctors had been closetted in the bedroom for a +very long time, and then Dudley and Rob, sitting on the garden steps, +were told that everything had been successfully carried out, and Roy was +as well and better than had been expected. + +"I never saw such fortitude and calm self-control in my life," said Miss +Bertram to her mother; "it was unnatural for a child of his age!" + +"He is a true Bertram in spirit," said the grandmother, proudly; then +she added with a sigh, "but, alas, not in body." + +"Nurse," said Dudley that night as he was creeping into bed under her +charge; "is Roy going to die?" + +"I hope not," answered nurse, a little tearfully. "Doctor Grant says +he'll make a good recovery, but he whispered himself to me--Master Roy +did just before he took the sleeping draught--'Nurse I'll have my leg +buried with me!' he says." + +Dudley was silent for a minute, then he asked, solemnly, "And where is +it, nurse?" + +Nurse turned upon him tearfully and angrily, + +"I believe as how you haven't one speck of feeling for that blessed +darling, you naughty boy! To talk of such a thing in such a way with not +a tear on your face! And to think of him laying there a helpless +cripple, and him the owner of the biggest estate in the county!" + +Dudley crept into bed feeling he had no more tears to shed, wondering +when he would be allowed to see Roy again, and also wondering who was +the possessor of his lost leg. + +It was a fortnight before he was allowed to see the little invalid, and +when the boys met, Dudley gazed with deep pity on Roy's white little +face, looking smaller and whiter than ever. But he welcomed him with a +smile. + +"It's years since you were here, old chap." + +"Yes," responded Dudley, "and it's been the most miserablest years of my +life." + +"I thought I was going to die then," continued Roy, with still the same +smile; "but God wouldn't let me. He was determined I should live, and do +you know I've been thinking it out. I really believe it is because He is +going to let me do something great still. And Doctor Grant has been +telling me of a man in Parliament who took all the house by storm, and +brought in a most wonderful law that thousands of people blessed him +for, and he--he had a cork leg!" + +Certainly Roy had not lost his buoyancy of spirits. Dudley drew a deep +breath of relief, and for the first time began to see brighter times +ahead. + +"And I'm going to have a cork leg," went on Roy, "a leg that if I press +a spring I can kick out. Think of that!" + +Dudley looked beaming, exclaiming,-- + +"And it will be very convenient to have a leg with no feeling, won't it, +especially about the knee when you're crawling along a wall with broken +bottles." + +"I'm going to see Rob to-morrow," announced Roy, after a little more +conversation. "Has he learned to read while I have been ill?" + +Dudley shook his head. + +"No, we tried one afternoon on the wall, but we were too miserable, so +we stopped." + +"Well, I can teach him here in bed. That's one thing you don't want a +leg to do!" + +"I say, Roy," Dudley asked, very cautiously; "don't you feel very funny +without it?" + +Roy looked away for a minute without answering, and then he said slowly: + +"I try and not think about it. It will be worse when I get up--people +might think when they see me in bed that I'm all right, but they'll know +the truth when I'm up." + +Then he added more cheerfully, "It's awfully queer, but do you know I'd +never know it wasn't there as far as the feeling goes. Why I can feel +the pain right down to my toes now. And at night I'm always dreaming I'm +running races with you as fast as I can, and then I wake and can't +believe I'll never run again." + +As Roy grew stronger he had more visitors; Rob came to him every day for +a reading lesson, and old Principle brought him books and sweets. Ben +was allowed an interview, and the old groom, with tears running down his +cheeks, besought Roy to forgive him. + +"I never ought to allowed you, and 'twas me that egged you on and sent +you to your death!" + +"No, it was my own fault, Ben," said Roy, humbly, "and the thing that +pains me most--more than breaking my leg--is to think that I should be +the first Bertram who has failed. Dudley did it, and I didn't, and of +course I shall never be able to try it again. Perhaps I was too proud of +what I could do. We have a picture in the nursery of a boy standing on +the top of a bridge, and then tumbling in the water; it's called 'Pride +must have a fall.' I've had a fall, haven't I, Ben?" + +Ben came out from that interview declaring that "Master Roy ought to be +sainted!" + +One afternoon Rob was finishing his reading lesson when he looked up +and said, a little shyly, + +"Master Roy, you mind what you were a telling me of once--about what +your father told you. Do you think as how I could do it too?" + +"Of course you could, Rob. All of us ought to serve God." + +"I've been thinking a deal about it, and I should like to, if I knew +how." + +"Well, the Bible tells you. I remember nurse made me learn a text a long +time ago, 'If any man serve me let him follow me.' It's just following +Jesus I suppose, and doing what He wants us to do." + +"How can we follow somebody we can't see?" + +Roy knitted his brows. Rob's questions were hard to answer sometimes, +and then a smile flashed across his face. + +"I'll tell you. It's like this. On my birthday granny called me in to +give me a birthday talk and, of course, she talked to me about my +property. She said my uncle had managed it awfully well over there, and +she hoped I would walk in his steps. That would be following him though +he was dead, wouldn't it?" + +"Ye-es," was the slow response. + +"And so you see," Roy replied, leaning forward impressively, and his +eyes glistening with earnestness, "we can each follow Jesus. Try and +live as He did, and do and speak like Him. We read how He lived in the +New Testament." + +"And He was the one that died for us," Rob said, reflectively. + +"Yes, He is the one you go to, to get your sins washed away. That comes +first before we begin to serve Him." + +"But I never could serve Him proper, always," objected Rob. + +"No, nor more can any one. I'm awful, you know! Dudley says I think such +a lot of myself. And of course Jesus never did. And I grumble and cry +over my leg every day, and of course He wouldn't have done it. But Jesus +forgives us again and again, and helps us to be good, and that's why we +love Him, and because He died for us." + +"Would He forgive me, and help me?" asked Rob; "are you quite sure He +would care to have me for a servant?" + +"Of course I'm sure. He wants everybody. You just ask Him." + +Rob said no more. He was a lad of few words, and for some days did not +touch on the subject again. His reading was progressing rapidly, and +when Roy and Dudley found out that his birthday was near they laid their +heads together and presented him with a handsome Bible, as they knew he +was saving up his pennies to buy one. + +His gratitude and delight overwhelmed them, and every day now, when his +work was finished, he would sit down and spell out chapters of the +gospels to himself. + +As the days began to shorten, Roy grew so much stronger that he was able +to be carried downstairs, and the first evening he was in the +drawing-room, he asked Miss Bertram for the song of the two little +drummer boys. + +She sat down at the piano, and Dudley seeing Rob weeding a flower bed +outside the open window, beckoned to him to come up closer and listen. + +"It's the best song out," he shouted. + +Roy's face shone as Miss Bertram's sweet voice rang out triumphantly. + + --"'the fight was won, and the regiment saved + By those two little dots in red!'" + +"Oh, how I wish I could be a soldier!" was the muttered exclamation of +Roy, "I shall never be able to serve the Queen now!" + +"Nonsense," said Miss Bertram, briskly; "granny would tell you 'that all +the Bertrams have always served the Queen, and only a few of them have +been soldiers!'" + +"Well, I suppose they have been sailors?" said Dudley. + +"Not at all; we have only had one admiral, and three naval captains in +our family during the last hundred years. Your father, Dudley, served +the Queen as a governor in India quite as well as if he were fighting +for her. Roy's father was her servant in Canada, though he had to do +with politics; your uncle James served as a member of Parliament. The +Queen has numbers of servants. I always think policemen are quite as +brave as soldiers!" + +"And what can a one-legged Bertram do?" Roy asked, with a pathetic smile +that went straight to his aunt's heart. + +"There's no reason why he shouldn't go into Parliament, and perhaps end +by being a member of the cabinet." + +"I never quite understand what that is," said Roy, contemplatively. "I +don't think I should like to be shut up in a stuffy cupboard. They shut +them up in it to talk, don't they, Aunt Judy?" + +How Miss Bertram laughed! But whilst she was explaining what a cabinet +was, Rob crept away from the window muttering, "I suppose as how I could +be a policeman, but I'd a deal rather be a soldier!" + + + + +XI + + +A GIFT TO THE QUEEN + +"Can I see Master Roy, please?" + +It was Rob who spoke, and he seemed breathless with haste and +importance, as he stood at the front door one cold afternoon the end of +October. + +"You can give me your message," the young footman said, rather +superciliously. + +"No, I can't," was the blunt retort; "ask Master Roy to speak to me." + +Rob gained his point, and was ushered into the library where Roy and +Dudley were amusing themselves in the firelight. + +The old nursery was not much used now, and the library had begun to be +considered the boys' room, partly because owing to it being on the +ground floor, and opening into the garden, it was more convenient for +Roy's use. + +Roy was now the possessor of a cork leg; and with the help of a stick he +was nearly as active as ever. His spirits were as high, and his purposes +as plentiful as before his illness; and his grandmother and aunt +marvelled that he could take his deformity so lightly. Yet there were +times unknown to any, when Roy's brave little heart sank with the +consciousness of it; and often in bed at night his pillow would be wet +with tears. + +"Oh, God," he would often pray, "you wouldn't let me die, do help me to +do something worth living for. I feel my leg will keep away all the +opportunities now, but please give me something big to do for you +still." + +"Hulloo, Rob, come on," was Roy's exclamation as he caught sight of his +friend. "Just look at Nibble and Dibble, we're teaching them to draw a +cart. It makes you die of laughing to look at them. There they go, and +Dibble turns head over heels in his excitement!" + +Roy's happy laugh rang out, but though Dudley joined him, Rob's face was +grave and set. + +"Please, can I speak to you on business, Master Roy?" + +"Goody! What a long face!" exclaimed Dudley, pulling down his own in +imitation of Rob's, and thereby causing a fresh peal of laughter from +Roy. "Have you been a naughty boy, Rob, and has old Hal been thrashing +you? Have you been skylarking on the top of the greenhouse, and smashed +through on Hal's pate?" + +"I should like to speak to Master Roy, alone," said Rob, a little +wistfully; in no way disturbed by Dudley's teasing. + +"Oh, it's one of your secrets again. I'll be off, Roy, I want to see old +Principle!" + +And Dudley dashed out of the room, whilst Rob came nearer and began his +"business." + +"Master Roy, I've been thinking a lot lately, and Miss Bertram asked me +the other day if I'd like any other job for the winter as there's hardly +enough work for me in the garden now. And yesterday I saw a chap in the +village I used to know. He's a recruiting sergeant for the ----shire +regiment, and he wants me to enlist straight away. I wouldn't have given +it a thought only what you said about serving the Queen has stuck to me, +and it does seem a chance, and somehow that song has been in my head +ever since I heard Miss Bertram sing it. I'd like to be in a regiment." + +Rob paused for breath, and Roy's eyes were wide open with wonder and +astonishment. + +"But, Rob, you aren't old enough to be a soldier yet!" + +"I'm just the age--they take them at eighteen, and I was that the other +day, only I don't look it." + +"But you're going to be my servant. I couldn't let you go." + +Rob's face fell. + +"I thought I could have seven years--or even twelve years would hardly +find you ready to take up your property. And then I'd come back to you +and never leave you again!" + +"But I want you with me now--always"--said Roy, in a distressed tone; "I +couldn't do without you all that time, and it's horrid of you to want to +get away from here, I think." + +"All right, Master Roy, I won't go--I'll get a job in the village that +will keep me close at hand." + +Rob tried to speak cheerfully, and after waiting a minute to see if Roy +would say any more, he left the room quietly; all the light having died +out of his honest grey eyes. + +Roy watched the antics of his mice in the firelight, but his thoughts +were far away from them. At last he opened the door and made his way up +to his grandmother's room to have his usual chat with her before tea. + +"Granny, if a person you like will do anything you like, ought you to +make that person do what you like instead of what they like?" + +"It sounds like a riddle," said Mrs. Bertram, with a smile. "I won't ask +who the person is, the question is whether you like that person or +yourself best. Which do you?" + +Roy did not answer for a minute, then he hung his head. + +"I'm afraid I like myself best." + +"If you give me more details, perhaps I can advise you." + +"Well, granny, may I talk first to Dudley about it, and then I'll tell +you. But you see it's like this--the person wants to please you, and you +can't pretend to be pleased if he does what doesn't please you!" + +"I think the best plan would be to leave yourself out of the question +entirely, and only think of the other person; that would be the most +unselfish way." + +Roy knitted his brows and heaved a heavy sigh. + +"Am I a very selfish person, granny?" + +"You are much more selfish than Dudley is," said Mrs. Bertram, +decidedly, who never minced matters with her grandsons. + +Roy flushed a deep crimson, and his grandmother added, + +"I do not say that you are altogether to blame, for Dudley has always +given way to you and spoiled you; but you do not very often think of his +wishes before your own." + +"No, I never do." + +Roy's tone was of the deepest dejection; but the sudden entrance of +Dudley gave a turn to the conversation, and he gradually recovered his +spirits. + +When the two boys were at their tea half an hour later, Roy spread the +whole matter before Dudley who looked at it in quite a different light. + +"How stunning! And is he really going? Hurray! One of us will be a +soldier, at any rate. I wish I was big enough to go with him." + +"But I don't want him to go, and I told him so, and he isn't going!" + +Dudley opened his eyes at this. + +"You going to keep him back? Why you're the one that's always talking +about serving the Queen, and fighting for her!" + +"Yes, I should like to, but--but Rob is different. I want him to be with +me." + +"Then you don't care about serving the Queen, if you're going to do her +out of a soldier who might fight for her!" + +This was quite a new aspect of the affair. + +"You think I'm like the dog in the manger? I can't go myself and I don't +want him to. But if you go to a boarding school like Aunt Judy talks of, +and I'm not allowed to go with you, and Rob is gone, I shall be left all +alone; and I hate being alone, you don't know how I hate it--I think I +should die!" + +"Well, if I was you and knew I couldn't be a soldier myself, I would +love to send some one instead of me--you know how they do in France. Old +Selby was telling us. They pay a subsidy--substitute--don't you call +it?--to go and fight for them." + +"Yes, that is the coward's way," Roy said, scornfully. + +He paused for a minute, and then his eyes flashed fire. + +"Yes, Dudley, I'll let him go. It's me that's the coward to try and keep +him back! You and I shall send him, and he shall be our substitute, and +when we hear of him doing brave things, we shall feel it's ourselves. +And we'll make him write letters to us and tell us all he is doing--oh, +it will be splendid. How glad I am he has learned to read and write. +Dudley, you just go and fetch him in, will you?" + +Dudley crammed rather a large piece of cake into his mouth, and dashed +out of the room; and a few minutes later dragged in the would-be +soldier. + +"We've settled you can go, Rob," said Roy, with a little of his +masterful air about him; "only you're to go as _our_ soldier. I think if +I had had a good, broad, strong chest and never broke my leg, I should +have enlisted, but you can go instead of me. Are you glad?" + +"I'm sorry to leave you, Master Roy, but I'd dearly like to go." + +"We must tell granny and Aunt Judy, and see what they say first. But I'm +sure they'd like you to go." + +No objection was made. Miss Bertram was rather pleased than otherwise. + +"He will make a good soldier," she said, when talking it over with the +boys; "he is a steady, reliable lad, with not too many ideas of his own, +and implicitly obedient." + +"Is that what makes a good soldier?" asked Roy. "I thought it was dash +and bravery." + +"Dash is a dangerous quality. Steady perseverance is better, Jonathan!" + +The next few days were most exciting ones for the boys. Roy and Rob had +many a long talk together, and very earnest and serious subjects were +touched upon. Rob had little time left to bid his friends farewell, but +he went to old Principle, as a matter of course. + +"Yes," said the old man, a little proudly; "all the younger folks going +out in life comes to me for a parting word. They laughs at me and my +principles, but I'm proud of my nickname, and 'tis only right principles +will make a man live right, and they knows it. What can I say to you, +lad, but fear God and honor the Queen and those in authority under her. +Never be afraid of holding to the right and denouncing the wrong, and +may God Almighty take your body and soul in His keeping until we meet +again." + +Rob's last day came, and an hour before his departure, in company with +his friend, the sergeant, he came up to the Manor to bid them all +farewell. Roy had some farewell words with him in the privacy of his +bedroom. + +"We shall miss you awfully," he said, walking up and down the room to +hide his emotion; "and it makes me wish I had your chance. But you'll +remember, Rob, I look to you to be a rattling good soldier, much better +than I should have been, and you'll be sure to do something grand and +brave the very first opportunity, won't you? You must get the Victoria +Cross, of course, and the account of you must be in the newspapers, so +that we can read about you. And I shall pray that God will keep you +safe, Rob. I hope you'll never have an arm or leg shot off, though I +think that would be better than having them cut off. I hope you'll come +back safe and sound. When shall we see you again?" + +"The sergeant told me I should get a month or six weeks' leave this time +next year, Master Roy." + +"A year is a very long time. Rob, if I should die before I grow up, I +want you to promise me that you will be Dudley's servant instead of +mine. He will be master of Norrington Court, then, and I want you to +live there." + +"But you aren't going to die, Master Roy, you will live and do great +things yet." + +Roy shook his head a little sadly. + +"Sometimes I wonder if I ever will. I won't give up trying, but I shall +never be anything but half a man, with my cork leg and my weak chest. +Dudley would make a much grander master. Still there's one thing I can +do. I can serve God--and I've sent you to serve the Queen, and I can try +to serve my fellow creatures. Good-bye, dear Rob, will you kiss me." + +And then forgetting his dignity, Roy flung his arms round Rob's neck and +hugged him passionately. "I'll never forget you carrying me home that +night," he whispered in his ear, "I loved you from that time. And Rob +you'll do what father told me to do--serve God first." + +Rob nodded, and as he knelt on the ground holding the frail little +figure to him, he made a promise there and then in his heart that he +would never do or say anything that he would be ashamed of Roy's +hearing. + +"They're calling me, Master Roy, good-bye." + +He was gone, and Roy sitting down on the floor, leaned his head against +his bed and burst into tears. + +Dudley found him there, and soon comforted him. + +"Look here, if you like it, let us get upon the wall and see Rob and the +sergeant drive by; we can just see the high road, and Rob had to go to +the inn first, so we shall have plenty of time." + +Roy's whole face beamed, he seized his stick and limped after Dudley +without a thought of his leg, but when he reached the wall he came to a +standstill. + +"I'm afraid I can't climb it, Dudley, I've never been on it since my leg +was broken!" + +But Dudley would take no denial. + +"Oh, yes, you can, I'll hoist you up, we'll manage it." + +And "manage it" they did to Roy's intense delight, though Mrs. Bertram +would have been horror-struck at the narrow escape the little invalid +had, of falling to the ground during the proceeding. + +When they saw the trap in the distance, they set up a wild cheer, and +waved their handkerchiefs frantically, and when they were answered by a +cheer and a fluttering piece of white, they felt quite satisfied at +their farewell. + +Before they got down from their high perch, Roy said, earnestly, "If God +sent us Rob as an opportunity, Dudley, I wonder if we did him good." + +"Well, you see he was such a lot bigger than us, and Aunt Judy says she +never saw such a steady good boy; it's very difficult to do good to +good people, because you want to be so extra good yourself." + +"At any rate, we've made him the Queen's soldier." + +"Yes," argued Dudley, provokingly; "but he was the first one that +thought of it!" + +"Oh, shut up," was Roy's impatient retort; "he told me himself it was +the song of Jake and Jim that did it, and--and my talking to him." + +"And I expect the sergeant thinks it's all his doing." + +"But he wouldn't have gone unless I had told him he might." + +And as usual Roy had the last word. + + + + +XII + + +LETTERS + +Very disappointed were the boys at Rob's first letter, which arrived +about a fortnight after he had gone to the regimental depot at a +neighboring town. + + "DEAR MASTER ROY: + + "I hope you and Master Dudley are + quite well as it leaves me at present. I like it + first-rate, but it is hard work, and I have a + good many masters, but I means to do my + best. God bless you. + + "From your faithful + "ROB." + +"That's not a letter at all!" said Roy, scornfully; "why he tells us +nothing at all! Why he might have gone to school and told us more! That +from a soldier. It's the stupidest rot I've ever heard!" + +"I think you forget what a poor scholar Rob is," said Miss Bertram, +reprovingly. "Now I think that is a remarkably good letter when I think +what a short time he has been learning to write. You boys had better +each write a proper letter to him yourselves, and ask him what you want +to know. He will like to hear from you." + +And so that afternoon, sitting up in state at the library table, the +boys spread out their writing materials and began to write. + +"I feel," said Roy, biting the end of his pen and looking up at the +ceiling for an inspiration, "that I don't know quite how to begin. I +should like to tell him not to write like an ass, when he knows he ought +to tell us everything." + +"All right, tell him so," said Dudley, squaring his elbow and frowning +terribly as he prepared himself for the task. "You know what old Selby +says: 'Make your paper talk, my boys, and make it talk in your own +tongues.'" + +After a great many interruptions from each other, and a few skirmishes +round the table which resulted in the ink bottle being spilt, the +letters were finished. + +Roy read his aloud with pride to Dudley, who did the same to him. + + "MY DEAR ROB: + + "You must write us longer letters. I + am quite sure there is lots to tell. What do + you have to eat? And where do you sleep? + Have you got a gun of your own? Do they + let soldiers shoot rabbits on their half-holidays? + Does the band play while you are at dinner? + What are your clothes like, and what are you + to be called, now you're a soldier? When + will you be a sergeant, and is there any fighting + coming off soon? Old Principle says + you will be learning drill. What is drill? He + says it's learning how to march, but Dudley + and I can do that first-rate. How many masters + have you got? Write to me to-morrow + and tell me all. I hope you will remember + you are our soldier, and be sure you do something + very grand as quick as ever you can. + Have you got a sword and a medal? Do you + ride on a horse, and can you fire off the cannon? + I miss you very much but you belong + to us, and must come back full of glory. + + "Your loving friend, + + "FITZ ROY BERTRAM." + + "MY DEAR ROB: + + "I hope you like being a soldier. How + many soldiers are there in the same house with + you? Give them my love and tell them we + hope they liked the cake we put in your box + for them. Roy came down to old Principle's + with me yesterday. He showed us a hammer + out of his cave he dug up. He says you will + not be a full blown soldier for a year. He + had a cousin who was a sergeant in India--and + had his brains burst out in battle. When + do you begin to fight? Tell us if you feel + funky, and what the enemy looks like, and who + they are. We think you ought to write us a + much jollier letter. Roy's leg is first-rate, and + he is up on the garden wall now like a cat. + We sit there to do our evening prep: for old + Selby. Good-bye. We're on the lookout for + your name in the newspapers the first battle + that comes off. + + "Roy's friend, + + "DUDLEY." + +"I don't think you've finished your letter properly," observed Roy, +critically, as Dudley concluded reading his. "Why do you write you're my +friend?" + +"Because I am," was the prompt reply; "I'm not Rob's friend and I shan't +tell him I am. I just write to him because you do, that's all." + +"Don't you like him?" + +"I don't want him for my friend; he's going to be a kind of servant. +Besides I wanted him to remember that I was your friend. I knew you long +before he did, and if he was dead now, or if he never had been born, I +should have been your friend just the same. We could have got on all +right without him." + +This was not the first touch of jealousy that had appeared in Dudley's +character. He had more than once quarrelled with Roy on account of the +boy who he said had crept in between them, but on Roy always +emphatically assuring him that Rob occupied a back place in his +affections, Dudley would generally be appeased and become his sunny self +again. + +"I like Rob very much," said Roy, slowly, "'specially now he's a +soldier. I was thinking in church last Sunday, when they were reading +about David and Jonathan, that Jonathan had an armor-bearer. That's Rob. +Only I can't go to battle, so I send him. Don't you think that's a nice +idea?" + +"Did he get killed?" asked Dudley, with interest; "I forget about him." + +"It doesn't say--I expect he lived as long as Jonathan did, and then +perhaps David took him to be his servant. That's what I've settled with +Rob, that he shall be your servant if I die." + +Dudley gave himself an impatient shake. + +"Oh, shut up with that rot, you'll live as long as I do!" + +Roy did not speak for a minute, then he said, slowly, "You remember my +will that I made when I was so ill?" + +"Yes, what did you do with it?" + +"Aunt Judy found it the next morning on the floor nearly under the bed. +She laughed a little at first, and then got quite grave when I explained +it, and she took it away and locked it up somewhere. But if I never +make another, you will remember that I have left Rob to you for your +servant." + +Dudley looked up with a comical gleam in his eye. + +"And who gave Rob to you, old chap?" + +"I took him--at least he gave himself to me." + +Roy's tone was dignity itself, but Dudley laughed. + +"Well he doesn't belong to you any longer; the Queen has got him." + +"I have lent him to her, that's all." + +"You talk of Rob as if he is a slave. He's a Briton, and 'Britons shall +be free!'" + +"So he is free, but he chose to be my servant when I grow up, and he +shall be!" + +Dudley dropped the argument, for Roy's face was flushing hotly, and he +was wonderfully patient with him since his accident. + +Miss Bertram entered the room at this juncture, and asked in her cheery +brisk tones, "Would any boys like to drive me to the railway station in +the pony trap? I am going up to London on business, and shall be away +till to-morrow." + +"Hurray," shouted Roy; "we'll come, and just read our letters, Aunt +Judy! Won't they make Rob see how he ought to write?" + +Miss Bertram took the letters in her hand, praised the little writers, +and then sent them off to their rooms to get tidy for their drive. + +A short time after, Roy mounted in front with his aunt, was driving her +with pride along the high road; whilst Dudley from the back seat kept +them lively with his chatter and flow of fun. + +The boys always liked the bustle of the station; and getting a lad to +hold the pony, they followed their aunt to the platform and saw her on +board the train. Some friends spoke to her before the train went off and +amongst them was a certain Captain Smalley. + +"I say," said Dudley, nudging Roy; "he's an officer, and he is in the +army, I expect he knows Rob." + +"We'll ask him, directly the train is off." + +But in the bustle of the last few minutes they missed seeing him; the +young captain got into his dog-cart, and was well on his way home before +the boys were ready to start in their trap. + +"Oh, I say! See him in the distance! Whip up and let us catch him. Here, +let me drive, it's my turn now!" + +But Roy clutched hold of the reins. + +"No, I want to." + +"I tell you it's my turn!" + +"It's the only thing I can do with one leg, it's a beastly shame of +you!" + +Dudley, who had nearly got possession of the coveted reins dropped them +instantly. + +"All right then, but go ahead!" + +And then Roy with a shamed look put the reins in his cousin's hands. + +"I'll give them up. Granny always says I'm selfish. It was awfully mean +to talk of my leg. Now then hurry! Gee-up!" + +Dudley took the reins with a gratified smile, applied the whip, and the +spirited little pony dashed along the road at such a rate, that a porter +looked after them in dismay. + +"Those two young gents will come to their death afore they're +satisfied," he remarked, and another man responded: + +"Yes, the little one is pretty well smashed up already, but legs or no +legs, boys allays keeps their sperrits!" + +Captain Smalley was rather startled at hearing frantic shouts behind +him, and when he pulled up wondering if some message were to be +delivered, he was still more bewildered by what he heard. + +"Hi, Captain Smalley! Stop for us. We've come two miles out of our way. +Now then, Roy, go ahead!" + +"Do you know Rob? We want you to tell us how he is. We can't get a word +out of him; is there going to be any fighting? And how does he look in +his clothes?" + +"Who is Rob?" asked Captain Smalley. + +"Why, he's a soldier like you. You must know him!" + +A few more explanations were made, and then the young man laughed +heartily. + +"Your young friend is learning his recruit drill at the depot, I should +think. If he were in my regiment I might not be able to give you much +information about him. The army is a big affair, my boys, and I doubt if +Rob and I will ever meet." + +The boys' faces fell considerably. + +"Do you think he likes it?" asked Roy, anxiously; "do you like being a +soldier?" + +"Of course I do, and if he has any stuff in him he will like it, too." + +"And will he be sent to fight very soon?" + +"I dare say he may do his seven years without a single fight!" + +Roy looked very disappointed. + +"If he doesn't fight, he might just as well have stopped at home. What's +the good of being a soldier if you don't have any battles?" + +"Soldiers prevent battles, sometimes." + +This sounded nonsense to the boys. They bade the captain good-bye, and +turned their pony's head homeward quite disconsolate. + +"I'll write and tell him to come home if he's not going to do anything," +said Roy, with his little mouth pursed up determinedly. + +"We'll give him a chance, first. He may go out to fight. Captain +Smalley didn't say for certain." + +"I think Captain Smalley is funky himself about fighting, that's what I +think!" + +And with this disdainful assertion Roy dismissed the subject. + + + + +XIII + + +OLD PRINCIPLE + +It was a soft, mild day in December. Mr. Selby's study seemed close and +stifling to the boys as they sat up at the long table with books and +slates before them, and a blazing fire behind their backs. + +"This sum won't come right, Mr. Selby," groaned Roy; "and I've gone over +it three times. It is made up of nothing but eights and nines. I hate +nine. I wish it had never been made. Who made up figures, Mr. Selby?" + +Roy's questions were rather perplexing at lesson time. + +"I will tell you all about that another time," was Mr. Selby's reply. +"Have another try, my boy: never let any difficulty master you, if you +can help it." + +A knock at the door, and Mr. Selby was summoned to some parishioner. He +was often interrupted when with his pupils, but they were generally +conscientious enough to go on working during his absence. + +But Roy's lesson this morning was not interesting, and he was unusually +talkative. + +"It's no good trying to master this sum, it's all those nines. They're +nasty, lanky, spiteful little brutes, I should like to tear them out of +the sum-books." + +"Expel them from arithmetic," said Dudley, looking up from a latin +exercise, his sunny smile appearing. "Don't you wish we could have a +huge dust hole to empty all the nasty people and things in that we don't +like?" + +"Yes--I'd shovel the nines in fast enough, and a few eights to keep them +company, and then I would throw in all my medicine bottles, and my great +coat, and--and Mrs. Selby on the top of them!" + +This last clause was added in a whisper, for if there was any one that +Roy really disliked, it was his tutor's wife. She was a kind-hearted +woman, but fidgety and fussy to the last degree, and was always in a +bustle. Having no children, she expended all her energies on the parish, +and there was not a domestic detail in any village home that escaped her +eye. She had spoken sharply to the boys that morning for bringing in +muddy footprints, and her words were still rankling in Roy's breast. + +"It's so awfully hot," Roy continued; "let us open the window, Dudley. +Old Selby won't mind for once; it's like an oven in here." + +The window was opened with some difficulty, and the fresh air blowing in +seemed delicious to the boys. Roy clambered up on the old window-seat, +slate in hand, but his eyes commanded the view of the village street, +and the sum made slow progress in consequence. + +"I say! Tom White's pig has broken loose, and that stupid Johnnie Dent +is driving it straight into old Principle's! I expect he'll come out in +an awful rage. No--the door must be shut, he can't get in. There seems +quite a crowd round old Principle's. He's giving them a lecture, I +expect. Here comes old Mother Selby tearing up the street, her bonnet +strings are flying and she's awfully excited!" + +A minute after the door was thrown open. + +"John, it's the most extraordinary thing--oh, you are not here!--Where +is Mr. Selby? I always knew something would happen to that old man +roaming over the hills half the night, and digging holes big enough to +bury himself! John! Where are you?" + +She disappeared as quickly as she had come, banging the door violently +behind her; but Roy sprang down from his seat instantly. + +"Dudley, it's old Principle! Something must have happened to him, do let +us go and see." + +Dudley dashed down his pen, and was vaulting out of the window, when he +suddenly stopped. + +"Roy get your great coat, quick. Aunt Judy made me promise to look +after you. I'll wait while you get it." + +Roy dashed out into the hall. He heard the rector's voice in the +distance, but was too excited to wait to see him, and after impatiently +tugging on his objectionable coat, he limped off as quickly as he could, +joining Dudley at the garden gate. They heard the news on the way to old +Principle's. It appeared that the old man had gone out the afternoon +before, and had never come home. His shop was shut up exactly as he had +left it, and the woman who went in every day to do his cleaning and +cooking for him, was the first one to notice his absence. The group of +idle women round his door were busily discussing the question when the +boys arrived. + +"I shouldn't be a bit surprised if as how he has made away with +hisself," suggested one, knowingly. "I always did say as he were queer +in the head, a makin' out of a pack o' stones such amazin' stories! And +a mutterin' to hisself like no ordinary creetur, and a walkin' through +the woods and fields as if he seed nothin' but what other folks couldn't +see at all!" + +"Ah, now! To think of it! And Bill is a goin' down the river to find his +body; for him and Walter Hitchcock have searched the whole place since +seven o'clock this mornin'!" + +"May be there's a murder in it," said a young woman, cheerfully. "He +were an old man to wander off alone, and there's allays evil-doers round +about for the unprotected." + +The boys listened to these and similar conjectures with frightened eyes; +then Dudley whispered, + +"I believe he is in his cave, Roy; we'll go and look for him. Only don't +tell these women about it, because he hasn't told anybody but us where +it is." + +They left the shop and started for the hills, but Roy's lameness made +progress very slow. + +At last he stopped, and struggling to hide his disappointment said, +"You'll have to go on without me, Dudley. I only keep you back. This old +leg of mine always comes in the way." + +Dudley stopped to consider. "It's a very long way, but we must get there +somehow. Hulloo, here's just the thing." + +They had stopped at a small inn at the outskirts of the village; and +tied to the drinking trough outside, was a rough pony and cart whose +owner was enjoying himself in the tap room with his friends. + +"Jump in, Roy. It's to save old Principle, and anybody would be glad to +lend his cart for that." + +Roy was not long in acting upon this advice. The pony trotted forward +briskly, and the boys would have thoroughly enjoyed this escapade, +except for the fears of their friend's safety. + +"If anything has happened to him, the village will go to the dogs!" Roy +asserted, emphatically; "old Hal said the other day he was worth a +couple of parsons. When I grow up, I think I shall try and be like him. +I shall give good advice to everybody without ever scolding them, that +is what he does." + +"Do you think he is dead?" asked Dudley, "I don't think he can be. Why +it was only the day before yesterday we saw him, and he was as well as +we are." + +It seemed a long time before they reached the cave; the hills were steep +and the pony rather old, and more than once Dudley felt inclined to run +forward on his own two legs. Roy at last suggested this. + +"I can drive up after you as fast as I can; and if you find him you +holloa to me." + +So Dudley jumped out and was soon lost to sight behind the bushes and +hollows that fringed the hills. + +Roy drove on busily thinking, and wondering if they had done wisely to +take the matter into their own hands, and come off alone as they had +done. + +When he at length reached the cave Dudley came to meet him with a +puzzled face. + +"Something has happened, Roy. I can't get into it very far; there's a +lot of earth tumbled down and I can't move it." + +"Then old Principle is buried alive!" cried Roy in terror. "Quick, +Dudley, let us dig him out." + +Dudley seemed quite helpless. + +"I've no spade, and there's no place near to get one. I wish we hadn't +come alone." + +This was a dilemma, but Roy would not be overcome by it. + +"Let us look about for his tools; he always brings them up with him. +Isn't there enough room for me to get in, Dudley?" + +Dudley shook his head, and both boys approached the entrance. There had +indeed been a serious landslip, and it was impossible to remove the +great blocks of stone and earth that had fallen without proper tools; +and though they searched for some traces of old Principle, not a thing +belonging to him could they find. + +"Perhaps he may not be here." + +"I believe he is," maintained Roy; "and we must be as quick as ever we +can. Dudley you go back in the cart and get some men to come and help. I +will stay here. How I wish we hadn't come alone!" + +Left by himself, Roy did not sit down and do nothing. Clambering all +amongst the fallen earth and stone, he eagerly searched for some +crevice or opening; and at last high up in the ravine he found one. Then +lying down flat on the ground he put his mouth to the hole. "Old +Principle! Hi! Old Principle! Are you there?" + +It was not fancy that a muffled voice came up to him-- + +"Help! I'm here!" + +That gave Roy fresh strength. Eagerly he tore aside brambles and stones +with small thought of his scratched, bruised hands, and at last had the +satisfaction of viewing a hole big enough to drop his slim little body +through. Then he called again, + +"Old Principle, I'm coming down from the top. Are you hurt? Can you tell +me if it is far to fall?" + +And this time old Principle's voice sounded clearer: + +"God help you, laddie! For I can't help you or myself. No it is not a +very big drop from where you are." + +For one moment Roy looked at the dark chasm below him with hesitation, +then he murmured to himself, "If I break my other leg, I must get to +him--poor old Principle." + +And then carefully and cautiously he let himself down, clinging with his +hands to a stout twig of mountain ash that bent and swayed across the +crevice with his weight. + +Another moment and leaving go of the friendly branch, he dropped on damp +fresh soil, and found himself in almost total darkness. Then as his eyes +got more accustomed to it, he saw the prostrate form of old Principle +only a yard or two away from him. The old man was breathing heavily, and +his legs were completely buried under fallen earth. + +"Is it Master Roy?" he said, as Roy came over and took hold of his hand; +"ay, you shouldn't have imprisoned yourself with me, laddie--I didn't +rightly think of what you were doing--I'm--I'm in such pain!" + +"Are you very hurt? Oh, dear, what can I do? I can't lift you. Are your +legs broken?" + +"I don't rightly know. If you could shift a little of the earth off, may +be it would ease me!" + +Roy looked round and then delightedly seized hold of a small shovel. + +"Your shovel is here. I'll do it," he said, cheerfully, and then to work +he went. The soil was fortunately not heavy to remove, but there was a +great quantity of it before poor old Principle's legs were liberated. +Roy toiled on, hot and breathless, longing that help should come, his +own fatigue forgotten in his pity for the helpless old man. + +"Can you lift yourself up, old Principle? I really think I've got the +earth off your legs--at least most of it!" + +There was a struggle, then a groan. + +"I'm afraid not, laddie. 'Tis the power that has quite gone out of them. +I'm fearing that old Principle will be never roaming the hills again, +but there 'tis the Lord's will, and He never do make mistakes." + +"Do you think your legs are broken like mine were?" + +"I can't rightly say. It has seemed a weary time since I lay here. Many +days and nights I suppose--and I'm longing for a drink, but thank the +Lord, He has sent you to me." + +"It is only since yesterday that you have been lost. And Dudley has gone +back to get some men to come. I wish I could get you some water, but +there's none here, is there?" + +"I am afraid not." + +Silence fell on the pair, which was broken at last by,-- + +"'Tis a good principle to think of your mercies when trouble overtakes +you. It has whiled away the time here, and I can thank the Lord with all +my heart, that my head and hands are uninjured!" + +"How did it happen?" asked Roy. + +"I'm afraid I excavated too far and was in the midst of unearthing a +large boulder of stone when I remembered no more--it took me so sudden, +and when I came to life again I thought I was in my bed at home with a +ton's weight on my feet. 'Twas good of the Lord to give me air--that +crevice you came through has saved me." + +"You said a long time ago you could mend anything but broken hearts, but +you can't mend broken legs, can you? Or you would have mended mine." + +"Ay, ay, so I would, surely. No--the mender has turned into a breaker +this time, 'tis a good thing it's only himself that he has broken up." + +A slight groan escaped him, and Roy softly stroked his face, a broken +sob escaping him. + +"Oh, old Principle, how I wish I was strong, how I wish I could move +you! You aren't broken up! Don't say you are. Couldn't I help you to +roll over on your back, wouldn't that be better?" + +After great effort this was partly accomplished, and then to Roy's +intense relief he heard voices above. + +Running to the opening he shouted: + +"Here we are! Help us out, or old Principle will die!" + +But it was some time before the rescue could be accomplished. The +opening was small enough to let Roy through, but not old Principle, and +the boy refused to leave the old man. Pickaxes and shovels were set +heartily to work, and after half an hour's hard toil, the old man was +gently raised out of his dangerous position, and placed in the cart. Roy +was put in with him, and Dudley walked by the side in silence until they +reached the village. There was a great stir and excitement over their +return. Mrs. Selby and their aunt met the boys at the entrance of the +village, and Miss Bertram looked anxiously at Roy's little white set +face. + +He could not be torn away from his old friend till he heard the doctor's +verdict, and it was a far more hopeful one than anybody had anticipated. + +"It is a marvellous escape. Not a bone broken, but of course he is +terribly bruised and shaken, and very stiff." + +"I'll sit with him till we can get a proper nurse," said good-natured +Mrs. Selby; "he seems to have no kith or kin belonging to him. It will +be a lesson to him, for life, I hope, and will put a stop to all this +delving and digging and unearthing what is best left alone. It only +fosters scepticism in the minds of the ignorant, and teaches them to +disbelieve their Bibles!" + +Old Principle looked up with a smile after the doctor's visit. + +"Is little Master Roy there?" + +Roy pressed forward eagerly. + +"I'm thinking, laddie, that you and Master Dudley have had a rare good +opportunity of saving a poor old man's life, and he is duly grateful to +you." + +But Roy was very near tears. + +"I'm so glad--so glad your legs aren't broken," he said, in a quivering +voice, "anything is better than being suddenly turned into a cripple!" + +And then bending over him he kissed the furrowed brow, and crept out of +the room. + + + + +XIV + + +HEROES + +Old Principle's accident was a great event in the village. The boys got +their fair share of praise in his rescue, but their grandmother did not +see it in such a favorable light. + +"You ought never to have left your lessons without leave, or taken a +cart belonging to a stranger all unknown to him, or gone off alone +without telling any one about it. And you were shown the folly and +uselessness of such a proceeding by arriving on the scene and being +utterly unable to extricate him from his position. If children would +realize their weakness and foolishness more in these days, they would +develop into better men and women, but self-sufficiency and self-conceit +are signs of the times!" + +Every day the boys went to see their friend, and even Mrs. Selby allowed +that they could be quiet and well-behaved in a sick room. It was a long +time before old Principle regained his health, and he seemed to have +grown much older and feebler since his accident; but his serenity of +spirit was undisturbed, and some of the neighbors who had before voted +him close and cranky, now offered to come and sit with him, and learned +many a lesson from his sickbed. When he was at last able to take his +place in the shop again, Roy's mind was at ease about him. + +"I was so afraid he was going to die as long as he stayed in bed," he +confided to Dudley: "I hope no one will ever die that I like, it must be +such a dreadful thing to have them gone. I think I would rather die +first, wouldn't you?" + +"We can't all die first," said matter-of-fact Dudley; "somebody must be +last." + +"Well, I don't think I shall be," returned Roy, "that's the best of +being weak like I am." + +But this assurance brought no comfort to Dudley. + +A few more labored letters came from Rob, and then one that stirred the +boys' hearts after he had been about three months away from them. It was +to say that he was going out to India in a draft, and had been allowed +three days to come and say good-bye to his friends. + +Roy was almost beside himself with excitement at the prospect of seeing +him again; and when the day came, he insisted upon going to the station +by himself to meet him. Dudley perched on the garden wall awaited their +coming. + +Rob was certainly improved in appearance. He held himself up bravely, +but a softened light came into his eyes, as Roy, looking whiter and more +fragile than ever, flung himself into his arms, utterly regardless of +all onlookers. + +"I'm right glad to see you, Master Roy," said Rob, in a husky voice. + +"Oh, Rob, you look so splendid! And you've got to be quite a man! Come +on, I'm going to drive you home, and we shall be all by ourselves. Now +tell me, are you really and truly happy?" + +Rob did not answer this question till he was in the trap being driven +homeward; then he said, slowly, "Yes, I'm thinking I like it first-rate, +but 'tis hard in many ways. 'Tis hard to keep straight and do the right, +when most seems to live the other way." + +"But most of the soldiers aren't bad, are they?" questioned Roy with +startled eyes. + +"They aren't out and out bad--just careless, I reckon, but old Principle +would say they're lacking in principle." + +"And is it hard being a soldier? I suppose it must be a little. I came +across a text I thought would just fit you, Rob, the other day. 'Endure +hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.'" + +Rob's eyes brightened. He seemed strangely older and graver in his ways, +yet when they drove up in sight of Dudley who slipped down over the +wall, and tumbled himself into the trap with them, he made the boys roar +with laughter with his funny incidents of barrack-room life. + +The three days passed only too soon. Innumerable were the questions put +to the young soldier, and Roy's curiosity about a military life was +insatiable. + +"Well," he said at last, "I don't think I should be strong enough to be +a soldier, but I'm awfully glad you're one, Rob. And now you've got your +chance in India of doing something grand and getting the Victoria Cross. +The opportunity has come to you, and Dudley and I can't get it, though +we've tried hard. But we have helped to send you out to India to do it, +Rob, so you won't fail us, will you? And then when you come back covered +with medals, you shall live with me and always dress in your uniform, so +we'll look forward and think of that!" + +When Rob departed, he had quite a little party of friends to see him off +at the station. Old Hal, the gardener, Ted, the stable-boy, and old +Principle were there, and Miss Bertram and her nephews were with him to +the last. + +"He's begun right, and he'll go on like it," announced old Principle, +with emphasis, as the train steamed out of the station, and Rob leaned +out of the window to wave a last farewell to his friends. "'Tis the +beginnin' of life that boys make such a mess of, as a rule!" + +Roy's eyes were tearful as he watched the train disappear. + +"I've given him to the Queen," he said, gravely, to his aunt; "and no +one can say I'm selfish, for I'd much rather have had him stay with me. +But as I can't do anything grand, he must do it for me!" + +The day after Rob left them, the boys had an invitation to spend the day +with Roy's guardian, General Newton. He did not often ask them over to +see him, so it was considered a great treat, and they set off in high +spirits. The groom drove them over, and they were shown into the +general's study at once upon their arrival. He was not by himself; +another grey-haired gentleman was seated there smoking, and the boys +wondered at first who he was, but General Newton soon enlightened them. + +"This is a very old chum of mine, boys, who was in my regiment with me +when I first enlisted; he has been a hero in his time, so if you make up +to him he will tell you some wonderful stories. Now, Manning, these boys +are smitten with the 'scarlet fever' at present, as a young friend of +theirs has just enlisted. Tell them something about the Crimea; you had +plenty of ghastly experiences there." + +Colonel Manning laughed as he met the boys' admiring gaze, and before +long he was enchanting them by his reminiscences. + +"Now will you tell us the very bravest thing that you ever saw any +soldier do?" demanded Roy, with flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes. + +Colonel Manning looked at his little auditor rather thoughtfully. + +"I've seen a good many brave deeds done," he said, slowly; "but one +stands out in my memory above and beyond them all." + +"Oh, do tell us." + +"It was quite a young lad, a recruit that came to join our regiment when +we were in Malta. He was a fair, curly-headed boy, and seemed quite +frightened at the rough life and ways of his comrades. I happened to be +orderly officer one evening, and was going my rounds, when I passed one +of the barrack-rooms just before lights were out. It was in a low +building and the windows were open. The men were noisy, and the first +thing I heard was a volley of oaths from one of the oldest soldiers +there. The corporal in charge instead of reproving him, was joining in, +and there was a great dispute between a lot of them about some small +matter, when this young chap stood up with a flush on his cheeks. +'Comrades,' he cried; 'would any of you allow your mother to be called +evil names in the barrack-room?' His voice rang put so clearly that +there was a hush at once, and they turned to him in wonder. 'You know +you wouldn't,' he went on; 'and you are ill-treating the name of One who +is dearer and nearer to me than any mother--the best Friend I've got. I +tell you, I won't allow you to do it while I am in the room!' I remember +as I stood there and heard him, and saw the men utterly abashed before +the boy, I felt he had a courage that none of us could equal." + +"Is that all?" asked Dudley, with disappointment in his tone. + +"Did the men stop swearing?" asked Roy. + +"As far as I can remember, they did. The corporal rebuked them, and +lights were put out, but that boy was braver than many a hero on the +battlefield." + +The boys' faces fell. + +"But that was not what we call a brave deed," said Roy, at length. "Of +course it was splendid of him, but it wouldn't get him the Victoria +Cross." + +"No, only a crown of everlasting life, and a word of commendation from +the King of Kings," said the colonel, in a strangely quiet voice; but +Roy's expressive little face kindled at once, and he said no more. They +went into the dining-room to lunch soon, and the boys were too busy +enjoying the good things before them to talk much to their elders. After +it was over General Newton sent them out for a run in the garden. And +then when they came in, he asked them if they would like to come +upstairs to his old picture gallery. + +"I am going to take my friend up, and you can come, too." + +The boys were delighted; they had often heard of this gallery, but had +never been in it as General Newton kept it locked up, and very rarely +opened it. + +"I have some gems amongst the portraits," he said to Colonel Manning as +he unlocked a door in the passage, and led them into a long dusky +corridor; "I will pull up the blinds and then we shall see. They are +mostly ancestors, but one or two are by master hands, and two or three +royal personages are amongst them." + +The boys listened eagerly whilst their host pointed out one and another, +with now and then an anecdote connected with them. + +"Look," said Roy, delightedly, "there's a fine soldier. He is quite +young, and yet what a lot of medals! and oh, General Newton, isn't that +the Victoria Cross on his coat?" + +"Yes, my boy, he served his country well for such a youngster, he +fought in eight battles, and came home without a scratch, though he had +many hair-breadth escapes. In one battle he had two horses shot under +him, and he saved the colors on foot, though he was leading a cavalry +charge." + +"He was a regular hero!" murmured the admiring boys. + +"I don't think he was," said the general, drily. "He had plenty of dash +and go, but no moral courage. He came home after the wars were over, and +broke his mother's heart by becoming a drunkard and a gambler; and he +died an early death from drink and dissipation." + +Roy looked very puzzled. + +"I thought a brave man must be a good one, and brave and good to the end +of his life." + +"A man can face the cannon's mouth better than a friend's ridicule," +said General Newton; "the young soldier we were hearing about before +dinner had a nobler courage than this poor fellow here." + +Roy said no more, but though he listened and looked, the rest of the +time they were in the gallery, his thoughts were with the hero of the +Victoria Cross. He ran back to have one more look at him before they +went downstairs, and gazed up at the bold, frank bearing, and the +laughing mouth of the soldier, with wistful pity in his brown eyes. + +"You served your Queen and country, but I expect you left out God," he +said, in a whisper; then he ran on to overtake the others. + +After an early tea the boys were packed up in the trap to come home. + +"Drive home as quickly as you can," said the general to the groom, "for +rain is not far off, and it will not do to let Master Fitz Roy get a +soaking; he looks as if a breath of wind will blow him away." + +"I do hate people talking about me like that," Roy confided to Dudley as +they set off at a brisk rate; "I might just as well be a girl. I often +wonder I wasn't born one for all the good that I shall do in the world." + +"That's all stuff," said Dudley, indignantly; "you'll be an awfully +strong man I expect when you grow up, you see if you aren't!" + +Roy shook his head, and was unusually silent for some time. They were +driving through the outskirts of a village when down came the rain. The +groom wrapped the boys up as well as he could, and was urging the horse +on, when it suddenly shied and came to a standstill. Looking down, the +groom saw a small child seated in the middle of the road, almost +miraculously preserved from the horse's hoofs. + +"Well, here's a go," he muttered; "where on earth does it come from, we +don't want no delay in such a storm as this!" + +The boys had sprung down at once from the trap, and were endeavoring to +drag the child away when it burst into roars of fright and anger. + +"I want mummy--oh, mummy!" + +It was a little girl between three and four. She had been placidly +nursing a doll in the middle of the road, and seemed perfectly oblivious +of wind and rain. + +"Where do you live?" asked Roy, but the child only continued to wail for +its mother. + +"Here, Master Roy, you'll be wet through. Come back, and let Master +Dudley hoist her up to me. We can't stop all day trying to find out +where she lives. We'll take her back with us for the time." + +But this did not please Roy. + +"No, we must find her mother; she must come from the village we have +passed. You wait there with the horse, Sanders, and we'll take her +back." + +"Let Master Dudley do it, then," said Sanders, crossly, "and you get +into the trap again." + +This also Roy refused to do. + +"It's an opportunity, isn't it, Dudley? And look she has taken hold of +my hand; you run on in front and ask about her at the first cottage you +come to, and I'll bring her after you." + +Sanders grumbled and growled, but the boys did not heed him. Happily the +mother of the child soon appeared, thanked them profusely, and Roy and +Dudley clambered up into the trap again, both wet through. + +"You're a heedless, disobedient pair," said the wrathful Sanders, "and +if I'm blamed for your taking to your beds and gettin' rheumaticky fever +and inflammation of the lungs, it won't be my fault, and I shall tell +the missus so!" + + + + +XV + + +AN UNWELCOME PROPOSAL + +Roy was not well for some time after this episode. He had a bad +bronchial attack, and was in the hands of his old nurse again. + +"It do seem as if everything conspires to make you a delicate lad," she +said one day; "it beats me how you come through it as well as you do! +But 'tis mostly your thoughtless ways that leads you into trouble." + +"I'm sorry," Roy said, cheerfully; "but I expect I'm stronger than I +look. I never shall be much of a fellow, I know; but even with my cork +leg I can do a good deal, can't I?" + +"You're worth two of Master Dudley!" ejaculated the fond nurse, but this +assertion was of course questioned. + +"I shall never be like Dudley, never! Not in looks, or strength, or +goodness. He is better than I am all round!" + +Miss Bertram came into the room at this moment. + +"Ah, nurse," she said, in her bright, brisk way; "he is like a cat, +isn't he? Has nine lives, I'm sure. There never was such a boy for +getting into scrapes. I'm in fear whenever he is out of our sight now +that he may never come back again." + +"Now, Aunt Judy, you wouldn't have liked me not to have got out to that +baby?" + +"I should like some one else to have done it." + +"Yes, I suppose Dudley would have done it," and Roy's tone was a little +sad; "but you see I wanted to help. As he was saying to me this morning, +he will have many more chances than I when he gets bigger and goes out +to India to do good to people. I shall have to stop at home now, for I +shall never be able to ride, he will have all the big opportunities, and +I must be content with the little ones." + +"You talk like a little old grandfather, sometimes," said Miss Bertram, +laughing, as she sat down beside him. "You must make the most of David +while he is with you, for I have heard from his stepfather this morning, +and he wishes him sent to school at once." + +Roy's eyes opened wide. + +"But I shall go too, shan't I, Aunt Judy?" + +"I am afraid not just yet. You are not fit to rough it; besides we +couldn't lose both our boys!" + +"But I must go if Dudley goes, I must!" and Roy's tone was passionate +now. "I won't have him go away from me--I've lost Rob, and that is bad +enough--You wouldn't take Dudley away from me, too, Aunt Judy!" + +"Hush, hush, we will not talk any more about it now. He will not go +till after Easter, and that won't be here yet." + +Miss Bertram was sorry she had broached the subject, when she saw Roy's +distress, and going downstairs sent Dudley up to play with him. + +Later on when she was sitting with her mother in the drawing-room a +small head appeared. "May I come in, granny?" + +It was Dudley, and his round and rosy face was unusually solemn. +Marching in he took up his position on the hearth-rug, his back to the +fire, and with his hands deep in his pockets, he turned his face rather +defiantly toward his grandmother. + +"Granny, I'm not going to school without Roy." + +"Hoighty-toity! What next, I wonder. Is that the way for little boys to +speak to their elders. You will do what you are told as long as you are +in my house, as your father did before you." + +"It is your stepfather's wish," put in Miss Bertram; "you ought to be +willing to obey him." + +"Not if he tells me to do something wrong. And I'm sure it would be +quite a wrong thing for me to go away from Roy. We have promised never +to leave each other till we grow up, and we don't mean to break our +promise. And, granny, I'm sure you don't like broken promises. Father +doesn't know about Roy, and he can't understand like I do, and it would +be very wrong of him if he took me away from Roy!" + +Mrs. Bertram put on her glasses and inspected her little grandson with +searching eyes. + +"That is a most disrespectful speech, Dudley. I shall of course uphold +your father's wishes." + +"But, granny, I can't leave Roy. It will break his heart. You don't know +how he frets about his leg. He doesn't say much and is always so +cheerful, but he misses me most awfully even if I'm away for a day. If +he was well and strong, he could get on first-rate, but he wouldn't get +about half so much if I didn't take him. I think he would mope and mope +all by himself. And I don't think we could live without each other. You +won't send me away, will you?" + +Tears were filling Dudley's blue eyes, but Mrs. Bertram looked +displeased. + +"In my days, children never thought of arguing with their elders. I +think your aunt and I are as capable of taking care of Roy as you are. +Now leave the room, and do not refer to the matter again." + +Then Dudley astonished his grandmother by the first exhibition of +temper that he had ever displayed before her. + +"I _won't_ be separated from Roy. If you send me to school, I shall run +away, and I shall write and tell father the reason!" + +A stamp of the foot emphasized this passionate speech, and then Dudley +fled from the room, banging the door violently behind him. + +As on a former occasion he now took himself and his grief to old +Principle. It was early-closing day in the village, and he found the old +man just locking up his door prepared for a ramble. + +"Come along up to the hills with me, laddie," he said, after hearing the +trouble; "there's nothing like fresh air for blowing away a fit of the +dumps. I am going to the cave again--will you come with me?" + +"Yes, I will. I've been in an awful temper in granny's room, and banged +her door. I don't think she'll ever forgive me!" + +"'Tis like this, Master Dudley," said old Principle, presently, as they +walked over the hills together; "if it's right for you to go, there's +nothing to be said, and you must fall in with it whether you like it or +no." + +"But it can't be right for me to leave Roy when he wants me." + +"It may be the best thing in the world for him and you, if it is to be. +'Tis a bad principle to determine whether a thing is right or wrong, +according to our liking." + +"It's a cruel thing to part us!" said Dudley, doggedly. + +"But may be a way will be found out of the difficulty by Master Roy +going with you." + +"They say he isn't strong enough. That wetting in the rain has made him +bad again." + +"Well now I should ask the good Lord to make him strong enough. There's +time between this and Easter." + +Dudley brightened up at once. + +"Do you think he might be strong enough? I should be able to take great +care of him, and I would, too. And he's so plucky, that I'm sure the +other boys would be good to him." + +The cave was reached, and in the interest of watching excavation going +on Dudley was soon his bright self again. + +He came home radiant, with a match-box full of tiny shells for Roy who +was waiting for him in the nursery. + +"You have been away a time," he said, wearily: "I'm sure I'm well enough +to go out now. I can't bear the winter. It means so many colds and +aches." + +"Well, you're going to get better very soon, and look here, old chap! If +you try your very best, perhaps the old doctor will give you leave to +come to school with me after Easter." + +Roy's eyes sparkled at the thought. + +"Nurse always makes such a molly-coddle of me, and so does granny; but +I'll try as hard as I can to be better." + +"And now just look at these! Old Principle says these show that the sea +must have washed up amongst the hills and into his cave hundreds of +years ago, for these belong to salt water fish not river ones. Look at +them! 'Fossils' he calls them, they're shells made out of stone. He told +me I might give you these from him. I thought he would never go back to +his cave again after last December, but he says he feels so much +stronger now; and he is very careful how he digs; he won't let me come +near him while he does it. And he told me he has been busy writing a +paper which he is going to send to some society in London--I forget its +name. He is what you call a discoverer, isn't he?" + +Roy nodded, then asked anxiously: + +"Dudley, were you rude to granny before you went out? Aunt Judy came to +look for you here, and she said she hoped you were going to beg granny's +pardon for something." + +"I'll go now, I had almost forgotten." + +And Dudley trotted off to his grandmother's room. She received him +sternly, but he was so abjectly penitent that she soon forgave him, and +he returned to Roy with a relieved mind. + +"It's a dreadful thing to have a temper," he remarked, as he sat upon +the nursery table swinging his legs to and fro; "I've given granny an +awful headache by the way I banged her door." + +"What was it about?" asked Roy, with interest. + +"About school," was the answer; "I told her I wasn't going away from +you." + +"I've been thinking of it a lot," said Roy, with a sigh; "but you'll +have to go, and I shall get on pretty well without you. You see a boy +with one leg wouldn't be much good amongst a lot of other boys. They +would only call him a cripple and push him aside. I shouldn't like them +to laugh at me. The only thing for me is a cripple school. Nurse has a +little grandson at one. I don't much care for cripples, those I've seen +seem very poor creatures with no fun in them, but of course I'm one +myself now; only I don't feel like it." + +"You're no more a cripple than I am," was Dudley's indignant rejoinder, +"why no one would tell anything was the matter with you to look at you." + +"We won't talk any more about it," said Roy, "I'm hungry and I hear tea +coming." + +But both the little hearts were very full of a possible separation, and +for some days after it lay like a heavy nightmare on them. Then a letter +arrived from Rob which turned the current of their thoughts. It was his +first letter from India, and the boys looked at the foreign stamps and +paper, as if it were the greatest rarity on earth. + + "MY DEAR MASTER ROY: + + "I write to tell you we are safely here + and I am quite well as I hope you are. It is + very hot, but we don't do much work in the + middle of the day and I like the place. I wish + you could see the flowers and the black men + and the funny houses and the colored dresses + of the people. I am getting on, I hope, and + my sergeant told me the other day I might + get the stripe soon if I liked. I will keep a + lookout as you told me for Master Dudley's + father, but they say India is a bigger place + than England, which I don't believe, for we're + the grandest nation in the world, and the biggest + and the best, all of us in the barrack-room + agree to that. I saw a scorpion to-day + which pinches when it catches you and draws + the blood awful. There is a mountain battery + with us now, and they use mules instead of + horses, the hills are higher than those at home + and it's hard work going up. There is not + any fighting yet, but I am ready for it when + it comes, and will do my duty to the Queen + and you. My chum has helped me write this + letter and I hope it pleases you. I am trying + to endure hardness. Good-bye, Master Roy, + + "Your faithful ROB. + + "God bless you." + +"That's a much nicer letter, isn't it?" said Roy, in great delight; +"that is quite as long as the one I sent him. I hope he will get some +fighting soon." + +"Supposing if he does, and gets killed?" suggested Dudley. + +But Roy put this thought away from him. + +"I've known such lots of soldiers in books that come home, that I think +he will. Besides God will take care of him. Do you remember the picture +gallery at the general's the other day, Dudley?" + +"Yes, what about it?" + +"I was thinking about that soldier there with all his medals who broke +his mother's heart; and then about the soldier boy the general said was +the bravest. I suppose I would rather Rob was properly brave like that, +than do great things in battle; but I should think he might do both, +don't you think so?" + +And Dudley nodded, adding, "Rob won't drink or gamble, I'm quite sure." + + + + +XVI + + +DAVID AND JONATHAN + +Easter came, and to the boys' great delight Roy was so much stronger +that it was settled he might accompany Dudley to a private boarding +school for one term. Thanks were due to Miss Bertram for this +arrangement; and she had great difficulty in obtaining her mother's +consent to it. + +"I am sure the boys will get on best together; Roy will have a better +chance of growing strong if he is with Dudley than if he is to mope by +himself here. If we find he does not keep well, we can have him home +again; and from all we hear of the school, the boys are most carefully +looked after." + +And certainly to judge from Roy's appearance and spirits, this plan +seemed most successful. It was a bright morning in April. The air was +cold but dry, and the old garden was sweet with the scent of hyacinths +and narcissuses. Bright beds of tulips and polyanthuses bordered the +green lawn, and old Hal was surveying the results of his work with pride +and satisfaction. Miss Bertram, in her leather gloves and garden apron, +was busy in and out of the hothouses; and the boys, after scampering +round in every one's way, had at last scrambled up to their favorite +seat on the garden wall. + +"This time next week we shall be at school," said Dudley; "how funny we +shall feel!" + +"We shan't be able to climb walls there, I suppose." + +"On half-holidays, perhaps we shall. It isn't all lessons; old Selby +told us the happiest time of his life was when he was at school." + +"I mean to be happy," said Roy, a smile hovering about his lips. + +"And so do I," maintained Dudley, stoutly; "but it will be awfully +strange at first. It's like Rob going off to be a soldier. We're going +out 'to see life' nurse says." + +"Old Principle wants us to come to tea with him before we go. I saw him +this morning going past our gate. He'll give us some of his good advice +like he did Rob, but I don't mind him, he's such a jolly old chap." + +There was silence between them for a few minutes. Dudley was eating a +slice of cake which he had brought out of the house with him, and Roy +was dreamily watching the figures of his aunt and the old gardener +moving about amongst the bright colored flower beds. + +"Dudley, we'll always keep friends, won't we?" + +"Of course we will." + +"But I dare say you'll have a lot of fellows at school who can get about +quicker with you than I can; and I don't want to keep you back. I only +want you to like me still best in your heart." + +"Now look here, old chap! You know that I couldn't like any other fellow +better than you. You're much more likely to have a lot of chums than I +am, because you're so clever. Look at Rob; he used to think nothing of +me at all, and I got to think you didn't want me with you, after he +came." + +"That was awful rot then, because we two are quite different to any +other people. Only it would be a good thing to have a fresh promise +together; a kind of Bible covenant, you know, before we go to school." + +"All right, here goes, then! Let us have your fists--now then, hear me! +I, Dudley Bertram, vow and declare that Fitz Roy Bertram shall continue +to be my dearest and nearest chum from this time forth, forevermore. +Amen." + +Roy grasped Dudley's hands eagerly and earnestly, and repeated his vow +in the same words, perhaps with additional emphasis; then with a sigh of +relief, he turned to chatter of other things. + +Shortly after Miss Bertram came up to them with a newspaper in her +hand. + +"Granny has just sent out this paper to me, boys. She thought you would +like to know that the troops in the place where Rob is, have all been +sent out on some expedition against a rebel chief in the mountains, so +he will have some fighting now." + +"Hurrah!" shouted Dudley, "don't I wish I was with him! Does the +newspaper mention his name, Aunt Judy?" + +"When shall we have a letter from him?" + +"Not for some time yet, because this is telegraphed. It will be all over +before we hear. We must hope and pray that Rob may be kept safely +through it." + +Miss Bertram looked grave, and the boys sobered down at once. + +"But, Aunt Judy, of course fighting is dreadful, but it is a soldier's +duty, isn't it?" + +"And Rob is sure to do his duty." + +"Yes, boys, we will hope he will serve his Queen as well as he served us +whilst here. Rob was a good boy: I wish there were more like him." + +And Miss Bertram moved away, whilst her little nephews worked off their +excitement at this news, by jumping down from the wall, and performing a +mimic battle in the pine wood outside. Very eagerly and impatiently did +they look for a letter before they went off to school, but none came; +and the last word that Roy said as he was leaving the house was,-- + +"Mind, Aunt Judy, you send on my letter when it comes as quick as +lightning!" + +It was rather an ordeal for both the boys when the last leave-takings of +all at home came. The old nurse wept profusely, and was only comforted +by the assurance that she should go to her charges on the very first +intimation of illness. Mrs. Bertram gave them such warnings against +choosing evil companions, and becoming depraved in principles, that the +boys were quite awed and depressed; and the servants, one and all, +expressed such pity and sympathy for their departure, that Dudley at +last confided to Roy: + +"If we were going to prison they couldn't look more shocked and gloomy." + +General Newton insisted upon taking them himself to school. + +"It looks well," he said to Miss Bertram, a little pompously; "for the +boys to have a man at their back, and I will have a few words with the +principal myself about Roy's delicacy of constitution. It will come with +more force from me than from you." + +So the general was allowed to have his way, and by the time the boys +were in the train with a large packet of sandwiches and cakes to while +away the time, their spirits rose, and they declared that going off to +school was "the jolliest thing out." + +It was late in the evening when they reached their destination. The +school was not far from the sea, and the clergyman who kept it would +never have more than thirty boarders; his wife, a sweet-faced +gentlewoman, received the boys most kindly, and General Newton came away +satisfied that it would prove a happy home as well as a good training +for the motherless boys. + +Dudley and Roy were not long in making themselves at home; their high +spirits made them general favorites amongst the boys; and even Roy did +not feel himself out of place in the playground, whilst in the +schoolroom he proved a quick and intelligent pupil. + +"The boys are happy, mother," said Miss Bertram one morning going into +her mother's room and handing her two letters; "and Mrs. Hawthorn has +written most favorably of them both." + +"I should think so," said Mrs. Bertram, stiffly, who though sternness +itself to her grandsons was most indignant if any one dared to say a +word against them to her; "they would not be true Bertrams if they were +not favorites with all." + +She opened the letters and read-- + + "DEAR AUNT JUDY: + + "It's our hour for home letters. We + like it here awfully. Mrs. Hawthorn is a brick, + she lets me come into the drawing-room with + her whenever I am tired, but I've only been + in once yet because I like to watch the boys + play best. I can bowl at cricket and bat too, + and I give a boy called 'Gnat' twopence a + game to do my runs for me. I'm collecting + birds' eggs. There's a boy here who has got + 250 of them. I mean to find a sea gull's nest, + and then he'll swap twenty of his with me for + one gull's, because he has never got one yet. + There is a boy called 'Simple Simon,' he + thinks I am a wonder because I let him run + pins into my cork leg and never cry out. He + does not know it's a sham leg and I shan't tell + him. We should like another hamper very + soon, please. Cook's gingerbread was A1. + Give my love to granny, and tell her I take my + tonic when I go to bed every night. Give my + love to nurse. Tell old Principle Mr. Hawthorn + would like to know such a clever man + and see his cave. Send me Rob's letter + directly it comes, please. We do drill in the + gymnasium. + + "Your loving nephew + + "FITZ ROY BERTRAM." + + DEAR AUNT JUDY: + + "This is an awfully jolly school. I'd + like you to be one of the boys. We are going + to have a paper chase next Thursday, and I bet + I'll lick some of the chaps at running. Roy + and I sleep in the next beds to each other. I + look after him when he will let me, he is top + of his class and Tom Hunter says he is a plucky + chap. Hunter is captain of the eleven. We + go to bathe every morning down by the sea, + and Hunter says his father is going to give + him a boat of his own in the summer. There + is a jolly tuck shop in the town. We can go + to it every Saturday. There is a boy here + called 'Fishy,' he wants to be my chum but I + like one called 'Cheshire Cat' better, but I + have no chum but Roy. Old Hawthorn only + canes for lies. A boy got caned last night, + and blubbered like a baby before he went in. + I send my love to granny, and all of you. Roy + expects Rob's letter every day. + + "Your loving nephew + + "DUDLEY. + + "P.S. Hunter says our cake has made his + mouth water for the next." + + + + +XVII + + +ROY'S BIG OPPORTUNITY + +"Roy, Mrs. Hawthorn wants you. She has got some letters for you." + +Dudley came up excitedly to Roy, directly after dinner was over one +Saturday afternoon. + +"And I say," he continued; "bring them out and let us go down to the +beach to read them together. The tide will be out till the evening." + +Roy hastened off, and wondered at Mrs. Hawthorn's grave look. + +"Your aunt has sent me some letters to give you, Roy. She has only just +received them herself. They are about your friend in India." + +"From Rob?" said Roy, with sparkling eyes. "Oh, I thought he never would +write. How jolly! And I see his writing, that's my letter." + +He held out his hand eagerly but Mrs. Hawthorn laid her hand on his +shoulder gently. + +"Yes, that was a letter he wrote to you before the fighting. Your aunt +has heard since--from a nurse who nursed him." + +Something in her tone frightened Roy. + +"Has he been wounded? He is well again, isn't he?" + +"He is quite well now," she said, in a hushed voice. + +For a minute Roy gazed at her, with horror and doubt dawning in his dark +eyes, then snatching the letters out of her hand he rushed out of the +room; and seizing hold of Dudley in the hall he exclaimed almost +frantically: + +"Dudley, something awful has happened to Rob, let us get away from the +house and read these letters." + +He held them tightly in his hand, and would not let Dudley take them +from his grasp, till they reached the beach. + +Then sitting down and leaning against an old weather-beaten rock, Roy, +with trembling fingers, first unfolded Rob's letter to himself. + + "MY DEAR MASTER ROY: + + "We are going up to the mountains to-morrow + to fight. The men say it will be stiff + work, driving an old chief from his stronghold. + Some of them don't like it, but I am + ready. I am a better writer now, I hope, so + want to tell you what I never have yet. I do + thank you with all my heart for being so kind + to a homeless lad and taking him in and giving + him a happy home. And I thank you + much more for teaching him to read and write + and giving up your playtime to get him on. + But if I was to thank you for a hundred years, + I couldn't thank you enough for telling me + about my Saviour and showing me the way to + heaven. Every word you ever said is sticking + to me. I mind all our talks, and if I may + have had some rough times in trying to serve + God first, I have been as happy as a king. + And I have found that the Lord has kept me + through the worst times, and I love Him with + all my heart. When I get to heaven I shall + be able to thank you proper. I do feel thankful + to you and Master Dudley. And now + good-bye and God bless you. + + "Your faithful ROB forever." + +Roy read this through. + +"He's all right, Dudley. What did she mean? Why did she look so funny?" + +Dudley shook his head. + +"I don't know, read what Aunt Judy says." + +Roy spread out his aunt's letter, and read it in unfaltering tones to +the end. + + "MY POOR DEAR LITTLE JONATHAN: + + "If granny were not really very unwell + I should have come straight off to soften the + blow to you, but I send the letters which I + have just received, and I have asked Mrs. + Hawthorn to explain them to you. You must + be comforted by knowing that our dear Rob + has proved himself a hero and died a hero's + death. I know you would like to see the + nurse's letter written from the hospital, and I + also send you one from the major of his regiment + who used to know me years ago. I know + you will be a brave boy and bear this trouble + like a man. Tell Dudley to write to me by + the first post to tell me you have got the letters + safely. + + "Your loving aunt, + + "JULIA BERTRAM." + +The letter dropped from Roy's grasp, and he flung himself down on the +beach face foremost. + +Dudley sat staring out at the sea without speaking. The blow had fallen +so heavily, and so unexpectedly, that speech was not forthcoming. + +At last Roy looked up. + +"You read the other letters to me, Dudley," he said, in a choked voice. + +And Dudley, with a good deal of hesitation and effort interrupted by +tears, read out as follows: + + "DEAR MADAM: + + "I have been asked to write to you + about Robert White who I am sorry to say + was brought into the military hospital the + other day dangerously wounded. He lingered + three days and was perfectly conscious up to + the last. I never saw a braver or more patient + lad. He told me all about your goodness to + him, and his devotion to a little nephew of + yours was most touching. His name was always + on his lips. He asked me to tell you the + circumstances of his death, and added, 'She + will tell Master Roy, I have tried to do my + duty. And I will be waiting now in heaven to + welcome him. I would have liked to be his servant, + but God wants me, and God comes first.' + I heard from his sergeant the details of the + engagement. A small party of them--White + among them--had been ordered to go and + take a certain mountain pass, and their officer + in command was shot just before they reached + it. I wish I could give you the account in the + sergeant's own words as he told it me. I will + try. 'We were marching up in single file, for + the pass was a very narrow one. Through + the clefts round it, we saw projecting the enemy's + bayonets and spears, and we knew it + was certain death for the first one in our + ranks. I led the men, and I tell you, Mum, it + was a cold-blooded way of meeting one's + death, worse than in the fiercest battle fighting + shoulder to shoulder! I pulled myself together, + tried to say a prayer and marched on, + wondering where I should be the next minute, + when suddenly before I knew where I was, + Corporal White had placed himself in front of + me. "You are not ready, sergeant," he said; + "I am, let me take your place." It wasn't time + to stand arguing, but I tell you I felt queer + when I saw the lad stretched for dead under + my feet. We had a sharp skirmish, but we + drove the enemy back, and the first one I + went to look for was White.' + + "The sergeant told me this with a sob in + his voice; he added that for months he had + ridiculed White for his religion and tried to + drive it out of him. But he came every morning + to the hospital, and I saw him on his knees + by White's bedside, offering up a prayer that + he might be made a different man. + + "And now I must try to give you more details + about White himself. I asked him if I + could do anything for him the last day he was + alive and then he asked me to write to you. + He kept the photo of your little nephew under + his pillow, and more than once he murmured--'God + first, the Queen next, and then Master + Roy--I'll be a faithful servant if I can!' + Toward evening I saw he was sinking. I said + 'Are you comfortable, corporal?' and he looked + up with such a radiant smile: 'Safe in the + arms of Jesus,' he murmured, and those were + his last words. From what I have heard from + those who knew him out here, I gather that + his life was a singularly pure and upright one, + and that young as he was he had influenced + more than one careless drinking man to turn + over a new leaf, and be the same as he was. I + am forwarding his Bible and small belongings + by this mail. + + "Believe me, dear madam, + + "Yours faithfully, + + "ROSE SMITH--Sister in Charge." + +Roy listened to this with breathless interest, his eyes shining through +his tears. + +"Oh, Dudley, how splendid! oh, Rob, you have been a brave soldier, but I +shall never, never see you again!" + +Down went the little head and a torrent of tears burst forth; whilst +Dudley laying his curly head against his cousin's joined him in his +weeping. One more letter remained to be read and this was the major's-- + + "DEAR MISS BERTRAM: + + "Having heard from you that one of + my men was a protégé of yours, I take the + opportunity of saying a word for the poor + young fellow. He has been an exemplary + character since he came into the regiment, and + has, I hear, been a general favorite from his + extreme good nature, in spite of being a religious + lad. His influence was felt by all his + comrades who came in contact with him, and + I feel we have lost a smart and promising soldier. + The sister in the hospital tells me she is + writing particulars of his death. My sergeant + is very much cut up over it. + + "With kind regards, + + "Believe me, yours truly, + + "W.A. ALDRIDGE--Major." + +"And that's all," said Dudley, mournfully; "why, I can't believe Rob is +dead--we never knew he was ill." + +Roy took up the letter, and read through Rob's again. Then he looked +across the blue ocean in front of him. + +"Just read me that bit of the nurse's letter of the fight, Dudley. Can't +you think of him marching up to the enemy?" + +Dudley read the desired bit, and then with a deep drawn breath Roy said: + +"He acted out the song of the drummer boys, didn't he? He marched on to +meet his death like they did. I wonder how it felt. Could you have put +yourself in front of the sergeant, Dudley?" + +"If you had been the sergeant, I could," was the prompt reply. + +"But the sergeant hadn't been kind to him. Oh, Rob, Rob." + +"Don't cry so, old chap, you'll make yourself ill. He's happy now. +Don't you think we'd better be going in?" + +But Roy would not leave the beach till the tea bell sounded, and then he +crept in with such a white, weary face that kind Mrs. Hawthorn put him +straight to bed, and stayed with him listening to his trouble till tired +out and exhausted he fell asleep. When Dudley came to bed he found him +clutching the letters tight in one hand, and muttering in his sleep, +"God first, the Queen next, and then Master Roy!" + +Once in the night he was roused by Roy's grasping hold of his +bedclothes. + +"Dudley, are you asleep?" + +"No," was the sleepy answer, "aren't you well?" + +"Yes, but I can't sleep. Tell me, was it my fault? Did I send Rob to his +death? I wanted him to go. Did I make him go?" + +"Of course you didn't," and Dudley now was wide-awake. "He wanted to go +first, and you didn't like it, don't you remember?" + +"Yes, I think he liked going; but if he hadn't heard that song perhaps +he would never have gone, he would never have wanted to be a soldier." + +"He did a lot of good out there. I don't think he will be sorry now." + +Roy settled down to sleep again comforted; but for the next few days he +seemed quite unable to give his mind to his lessons, and after some +correspondence with Miss Bertram, it was arranged that he and Dudley +should go home from Saturday to Monday. It was a sad home-coming, and +when Roy saw Rob's Bible his grief burst out afresh. The pages showed +how much they had been studied, but no verse was more marked than the +one Roy had given him. "Endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus +Christ." + +On Sunday evening the boys paid a visit to old Principle. They had been +talking about Rob, when Roy said wistfully, + +"Rob used his opportunity when he got it, didn't he? I expect he didn't +know what a hero he was. I wonder if I shall ever get one come to me. I +should like to do something great for God, and great for my country. I +shall never give up wishing for a great opportunity to come to me!" + +Then old Principle spoke, and his tone was very solemn: + +"'Tis not I that will make you proud and uplifted, laddie, but you have +been given the grandest opportunity that ever a poor mortal could be +given, and you've taken it and made use of it, thank the Lord!" + +Both boys gazed up at him with open eyes and mouths. + +Dudley said after a minute's thought: + +"We've both had some little opportunities, and Roy has had the biggest. +He saved me from drowning, and he went into the cave to fetch you!" + +"Those weren't proper opportunities," muttered Roy in scorn, "they +aren't worth remembering; not after what Rob has done." + +"Yes, the opportunity I'm talking of was a grander one than them, though +old Principle can't forget he owes his life perhaps to both of you boys' +thought of him. 'Tis what the Lord Himself left His throne in heaven +for," the old man proceeded in the same solemn tones; "'tis the one +thing, the only thing we're told brings joy to the happy ones above; nay +to the Almighty Himself, and 'tis wonderful that He will let us have the +part in it we do!" + +"What do you mean?" questioned Roy awed and puzzled by old Principle's +manner. + +"I mean this, laddie, you had an opportunity of leading an ignorant soul +to the feet of his Saviour; of enlisting a soldier not only in the +Queen's service but in the service of the King of Kings; of being the +means of filling an empty barren soul with a flood of light and +gladness; and of sending out a missionary in the midst of ungodliness +and vice, to turn many from the error of their ways. Is it not a greater +honor to help to save a soul from destruction, than bring glory to +yourself by some feat of physical strength or skill? Thank the Lord on +your knees to-night, that He sent you the opportunity you were always +hankering after; and thank Him He gave you the grace to seize hold of +it, and make use of it for His Glory, not your own!" + +Old Principle's burst of eloquence almost startled the boys, and they +received it in silence; but later on, as they were walking home in the +cool of the evening Roy linked his arm in Dudley's and said softly-- + +"I see it all now. My broken leg and everything. It was when I was too +weak to go out with you, that Rob and I used to talk over these things." + +And Dudley replied, with an emphatic nod, "Yes, though you didn't know +it, Rob was your big opportunity." + + +FINIS. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of His Big Opportunity, by Amy Le Feuvre + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HIS BIG OPPORTUNITY *** + +***** This file should be named 11470-8.txt or 11470-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/4/7/11470/ + +Produced by Joel Erickson, Michael Ciesielski, Amy Petri and PG +Distributed Proofreaders + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: His Big Opportunity + +Author: Amy Le Feuvre + +Release Date: March 6, 2004 [EBook #11470] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HIS BIG OPPORTUNITY *** + + + + +Produced by Joel Erickson, Michael Ciesielski, Amy Petri and PG +Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h1>HIS BIG OPPORTUNITY</h1> + +<h2>BY AMY LE FEUVRE</h2> +<br> + +<p><a href="ill001.jpg"><img src="ill001_sm.jpg" alt=""Quite a little party of friends to see him off." (p. +155)"></a></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">HIS BIG OPPORTUNITY</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">BY AMY LE FEUVRE</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Author of "Probable Sons," "The Odd One,"</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"Teddy's Button," etc, etc.</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">1898</span><br> + +<br> + +<p>Contents</p> +<br> + + +<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. --> +<a href="#LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS"><b>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.</b></a><br> + <a href="#I"><b>I</b></a><br> + <a href="#II"><b>II</b></a><br> + <a href="#III"><b>III</b></a><br> + <a href="#IV"><b>IV</b></a><br> + <a href="#V"><b>V</b></a><br> + <a href="#VI"><b>VI</b></a><br> + <a href="#VII"><b>VII</b></a><br> + <a href="#VIII"><b>VIII</b></a><br> + <a href="#IX"><b>IX</b></a><br> + <a href="#X"><b>X</b></a><br> + <a href="#XI"><b>XI</b></a><br> + <a href="#XII"><b>XII</b></a><br> + <a href="#XIII"><b>XIII</b></a><br> + <a href="#XIV"><b>XIV</b></a><br> + <a href="#XV"><b>XV</b></a><br> + <a href="#XVI"><b>XVI</b></a><br> + <a href="#XVII"><b>XVII</b></a><br> + +<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. --> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS"></a><h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.</h2> + +<br> + +<p><a href="ill001.jpg">Quite a Little Party of Friends to See Him Off</a></p> + +<p><a href="ill036.jpg">Old Principle Laughed at Dudley's Notion</a></p> + +<p><a href="ill053.jpg">"Now Then, You Rascals, What Are You Doing to My Donkey?"</a></p> + +<p><a href="ill095.jpg">"He's Dead, Ben—He's Dead!"</a></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="I"></a><h2>I</h2> +<br> + +<p>ON THE GARDEN WALL</p> + +<p>They were sitting astride on the top of the old garden wall. Below them +on the one side stretched a sweet old-fashioned English garden lying in +the blaze of an August sun. In the distance, peeping from behind a +wealth of creepers and ivy was the old stone house. It was at an hour in +the afternoon when everything seemed to be at a standstill: two or three +dogs lay on the soft green lawn fast asleep, an old gardener smoking his +pipe and sitting on the edge of a wheelbarrow seemed following their +example; and birds and insects only kept up a monotonous and drowsy +dirge.</p> + +<p>But the two little figures clad in white cricketting flannels, were full +of life and motion as they kept up an eager and animated conversation on +their lofty seat.</p> + +<p>"You see, Dudley, if nothing happens, we will make it happen!"</p> + +<p>"Then it isn't an opportunity."</p> + +<p>"Yes it is. Why if those old fellows in olden times hadn't ridden off to +look for adventures they would never have found them at home."</p> + +<p>"But an opportunity isn't an adventure."</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is, you stupid! An adventure is something that happens, and so +is an opportunity."</p> + +<p>The little speaker who announced this logic so dogmatically, was a slim +delicate boy with white face, and large brown eyes, and a crop of dark +unruly curls that had a trick of defying the hair cutter's skill, and of +growing so erratically that "Master Roy's head," was pronounced quite +unmanageable.</p> + +<p>He was not a pretty boy, and was in delicate health, constantly subject +to attacks of bronchitis and asthma, yet his spirit was undaunted, and +as his old nurse often said, "his soul was too strong for his body."</p> + +<p>Dudley, his little cousin, who sat facing him, on the contrary, was a +true specimen of a handsome English boy. Chestnut hair and bright blue +eyes, rosy cheeks, and an upright sturdy carriage, did much to commend +him to every one's favor: yet for force of character and intellect he +came far behind Roy.</p> + +<p>He sat now pondering Roy's words, and kicking his heels against the +wall, whilst his eyes roved over the road on the outside of the garden +and away to a dark pine wood opposite.</p> + +<p>"Here's one coming then," he said, suddenly; "now you'll have to use +it."</p> + +<p>"Who? What? Where?"</p> + +<p>"It's a man; a tramp, a traveller or a highwayman, and he may be all the +lot together! It's an opportunity, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>Roy looked down the narrow lane outside the wall, and saw the figure of +a man approaching. His face lit up with eager resolve.</p> + +<p>"He's a stranger, Dudley; he doesn't belong to the village; we'll ask +him who he is."</p> + +<p>"Hulloo, you fellow," shouted Dudley in his shrill boyish treble; "where +do you come from? You don't belong to this part."</p> + +<p>The man looked up at the boys curiously.</p> + +<p>"And who may ye be, a-wall climbin' and a breakin' over in folks' +gardens to steal their fruit?"</p> + +<p>"Don't you cheek us," said Roy, throwing his head up, and putting on his +most autocratic air; "this is our garden and our wall, and the road +you're walking on is our private road!"</p> + +<p>"Then don't you take to insulting passers-by, or it will be the worse +for ye!" retorted the man.</p> + +<p>The boys were silent.</p> + +<p>"I'm sure he isn't an opportunity," whispered Dudley.</p> + +<p>But Roy would not be disconcerted.</p> + +<p>"Look here," he said, adopting a conciliatory tone; "we're looking out +for an opportunity to do some one some good, and then you came along, +that's why we spoke to you. Now just tell us if we can do it to you."</p> + +<p>"Yes," Dudley struck in: "you seem rather down, do you want anything +that we can give you?"</p> + +<p>The man glanced up at them to see if this was boyish impudence, but the +faces bending down were earnest and grave enough, and he said with a +short laugh,—</p> + +<p>"Oh, I reckon there be just a few things I'm in want of; but as to your +givin' of them to me that be quite a different matter. Don't suppose ye +carry about jobs ready to hand in yer pockets, nor yet my set of tools +in pawn, nor yet a pint o' beer and a good hunk of bread and meat for a +starvin' feller! May be ye could tell me the way to the nearest pub, and +stand me a drink there!"</p> + +<p>Roy thrust his hand immediately into his pocket, and pulled out amongst +a confused mass of boys' treasures a sixpence.</p> + +<p>"I'll give you this if it will do you good," he said, holding it up +proudly. "I've kept it a whole two days without spending it. It will +give you some beer and bread and cheese, I expect. Is there anything +else we can do for you?"</p> + +<p>"If you go to Mr. Selby, the rector, he'll put you in the way of work," +shouted out Dudley, as the man catching the sixpence flung down to him +slouched off with muttered thanks.</p> + +<p>"No parsons for me," was the rejoinder.</p> + +<p>The boys watched his figure disappear down the road, and then Roy said +reflectively,—</p> + +<p>"Too many opportunities like that would empty our pockets."</p> + +<p>"And I wonder if it will really do him good," said Dudley; then glancing +over into the garden, he added: "Here comes Aunt Judy, she's calling +us."</p> + +<p>Down the winding gravel path came their aunt; a strikingly handsome +woman. She looked up at her little nephews and laughed when she came to +the wall.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you imps, do you know I've been hunting for you everywhere! You +will have a fall like Humpty Dumpty if you choose such high perches. Now +what comfort can you find, may I ask, in such a blazing breakneck seat? +Do you find broken bottles a soft cushion?"</p> + +<p>"We've cleared those rotten things away here," said Dudley, preparing to +clamber down; "it's our watch tower, and we've a first-rate view, you +just come up and see!"</p> + +<p>"Thank you, I would rather not attempt the climb. What have you been +talking about? Jonathan looks as grave as a judge."</p> + +<p>Roy looked down at his aunt without moving.</p> + +<p>"If you won't laugh or tell granny, we'll tell you, because you never +split if you say you won't."</p> + +<p>"All right, I promise."</p> + +<p>"Well, you see, this morning Mr. Selby gave us this for our copy: 'As ye +have opportunity do good unto all men,' and he told us of a King +somebody—I forget who—who used to write down at the end of each day on +a slate,—if he hadn't done any good to any one,—'I've lost a day.' We +thought it would be a good plan to start this afternoon and see what we +could do. We tried on old Hal first, but he didn't seem to like it. He +was uncovering some of the frames, and so we went and uncovered all of +them, and then he said we had spoilt some of his seedlings, and nearly +went into a fit with rage. I turned the hose on him to cool him down. He +is asleep in the wheelbarrow now; we can see him from here. We really +came up here to get out of his way, his language was awful!"</p> + +<p>"Come down, you monkey. I can't carry on a conversation with you so far +above me. Softly now. Bless the boys, how they can stick their toes into +such a wall is past my comprehension! Granny wants to see you before +your tea, so come along. And who else has been benefited by your good +deeds?"</p> + +<p>They were walking toward the house by this time, each boy hanging on to +one of her arms. It was easy to see the affection between them.</p> + +<p>Dudley eagerly poured out the story of the tramp, and Miss Bertram +listened sympathetically.</p> + +<p>"Never send a man to a public house, boys—and never give him money for +beer. Perhaps he may have come down in the world through love of it. You +know I am always ready to give any one a relief ticket. That's the best +way to help such cases."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but that would be your doing not ours."</p> + +<p>"Money is a difficult way of helping," said Miss Bertram; "don't get +into the habit of thinking money is the only thing that will do people +good. It too often does them harm."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I say! that's hard lines on me, when my last sixpence has gone, and +I was going to get a stunning ball old Principle has in his shop!"</p> + +<p>Miss Bertram laughed at Roy's woe-begone little face.</p> + +<p>"Never mind," she said, consolingly; "your intentions were good, and you +must buy your experience by mistakes as you go through life. Now go into +granny softly, both of you, and talk nicely to her. She will be one +person you can do good to, by brightening her up a little."</p> + +<p>Dudley made a grimace at Roy; but both boys entered the house, and +crept into a cool half-darkened drawing-room on tiptoe, with hushed +voices and sober demeanor. A stern looking old lady sat upright in her +easy chair, knitting busily. She greeted the boys rather coldly.</p> + +<p>"What have you been doing with yourselves? I sent for you some time ago. +Do you not remember that I like you to come to me every afternoon about +this hour?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, granny," said Roy, climbing into an easy chair opposite her; "we +were coming only we didn't know it was so late: we were busy talking."</p> + +<p>"Boys' chatter ought not to come before a grandmother's wishes."</p> + +<p>There was silence; then Dudley struck in boldly:</p> + +<p>"We were talking about good things, granny. It wasn't chatter. Roy and I +are going to look out for opportunities every day of our lives. Do you +think an opportunity is the same as an adventure? I don't think you have +adventures of doing good, do you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," asserted Roy, bobbing up and down in his chair excitedly; "King +Arthur and his knights did always. They never rode through a wood +without having an adventure, and it was always doing good, wasn't it, +granny?"</p> + +<p>Conversation never slackened when the boys were present, and Mrs. +Bertram, though shrinking at all times from their high spirits and love +of fun, yet looked forward every day to their short visit. She was a +confirmed invalid, and rarely left the house, and her daughter Julia in +consequence took her place as mistress over the household.</p> + +<p>Three years before, Roy and Dudley arrived within a month of each other, +to find a home with their grandmother. Roy, whose proper name was +Fitzroy, came from Canada, both his parents having died out there. +Dudley's father had died when he was a baby, but his mother had married +again in India; and upon her death which occurred not long after, his +stepfather had sent him home to his grandmother. From the first day that +they met, the boys were sworn friends; and their aunt dubbed them +"David" and "Jonathan" after having been an unseen witness of a very +solemn vow transacted between them under the shadow of the pines, only a +week after their meeting.</p> + +<p>Roy's delicate health was a cause of great anxiety to his grandmother, +and if it had not been for Miss Bertram's wise tact and judgment, he +would have been imprisoned in one room and swathed in cotton wool most +of the year round. He had the advantage of having an old nurse who had +brought him up from his birth, and had come from Canada with him; and +she was as vigilant and experienced in managing his ailments as could be +desired. Poor little Roy, with his uncertain health, was heir to a very +large property of his father's not far away; and the responsibilities +awaiting him, and the knowledge that he would have so much power in his +hands, perhaps had the effect of making him weigh life more seriously +than would most boys of his age.</p> + +<p>Later on after their visit to their grandmother was over, and tea had +been finished in the nursery, he wandered into his own little room, and +leaning out of his window, looked up into the clear sky above.</p> + +<p>"I feel so small," was his wistful thought, "and heaven is so big; but +I'll do something big enough to get, 'Well done good and faithful +servant,' said to me when I die, I hope. And I'll try every day till I +do it!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="II"></a><h2>II</h2> +<br> + +<p>A SONG</p> + +<p>"Come here, boys. I have had some new music from town, and here is a +song that you will like to listen to, I expect."</p> + +<p>It was Miss Bertram who spoke, and her appearance in the nursery just +saved a free fight. Wet afternoons were always a sore trial to the boys: +their mornings were generally spent at the Rectory under Mr. Selby's +tuition, but their afternoons were their own, and it was hard to be kept +within four walls, and expected to make no sound to disturb their +grandmother's afternoon nap.</p> + +<p>The old nurse was nodding in her chair, and her charges with jackets off +and rolled up shirt sleeves were advancing toward each other on tiptoe, +and muttering their threats in wrathful whispers.</p> + +<p>"I'll show you I'm no coddle!"</p> + +<p>"And I'll show you I'm no lazy lubber!"</p> + +<p>At the sound of their aunt's voice they stopped; and each picked up his +jacket with some confusion, Dudley saying contentedly, "All right, old +fellow, pax now, and we'll finish it up to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"Aunt Judy, do let us come into the drawing-room then, and hear you +sing; we're sick of this old nursery, we're too big to be kept here."</p> + +<p>Roy spoke scornfully, but his aunt shook her head at him:</p> + +<p>"Do you know this is the room I love best in the house? Your father and +I used it till we were double your age, and no place ever came up to it +in our estimation. Don't be little prigs and think yourselves men before +you're boys!"</p> + +<p>"Why, Aunt Judy, we've been boys ever since we were born!"</p> + +<p>"I look upon you as infants now," retorted Miss Bertram, laughing. "Come +along—tiptoe past granny's room, please, and no racing downstairs."</p> + +<p>"We'll slide down the rails instead, we always do when granny is +asleep."</p> + +<p>"Not when I am with you, thank you."</p> + +<p>A few minutes afterward, and the boys were standing on either side of +the piano listening with delight to the song that has stirred so many +boyish hearts:</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"'Tis a story, what a story, tho' it never made a noise</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Of cherub-headed Jake and Jim, two little drummer boys</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Of all the wildest scamps that e'er provoked a sergeant's eye,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">They were first in every wickedness, but one thing could not lie,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And they longed to face the music, when the tidings from afar</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Brought the news of wild disaster in a wild and savage war.</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Said the Colonel, 'How can babies of battle bear the brunt?'</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Said the little orphan rascals, 'please Sir, take us to the front!</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">And we'll play to the men in the far-off land,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">When their eyes for home are dim;</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">If the Indians come, they shall hear our drum</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">In the van where the fight is grim.</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Our lads we know, to the death will go,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">If they're led by Jake and Jim.'</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"In the battle, 'mid the rattle, and the deadly hail of lead,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The two were in their glory—What did they know of dread?</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And fierce the heathen cry arose across the Indian plain,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And 'twas Home, for the bravest there would never be again,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The raw recruits were restless, and they counted not the cost,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And the Colonel shouted, 'Steady lads, stand fast, or else we're lost.'</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">A rush! 'twas like an avalanche! a clash of steel and red!</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">A shock like mountain thunder, then the reg'ment turned and fled.</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">'Give me the drum, take the fife,' said Jake,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">'And with all your might and main,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Play the old step now, for the reg'ment's sake</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">As they scatter along the plain.</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">We'll play them up to the front once more,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">Tho' we never come back again.'</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"Then might the world have seen two little dots in red,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Facing the foe, when the rest had turned and fled!</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">So young, so brave and gay, while others held their breath,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">They played ev'ry inch of the way to meet their death;</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And <i>then</i> at last the reg'ment turned, for vengeance ev'ry man</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">To save the lads they turned and fought as only demons can;</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">They swept the foe before them across the mountain rim,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">But victory that day could never bring back Jake or Jim.</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">And they silently stood where the children fell,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">Not a word of triumph said,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">For they knew who had led as they bowed each head,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">And looked at the quiet dead;</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">That the fight was won, and the reg'ment saved,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">By those two little dots in red."</span><br> + +<p>Miss Bertram stole a glance at the boys' faces as she finished singing.</p> + +<p>With a wriggle and a twist Dudley turned his back upon her; but not +before she had seen the blue eyes swimming with tears, and heard a +choking sob being hastily swallowed. Roy stood erect, his little face +quivering with emotion, and his usually pale cheek flushed a deep +crimson, whilst his small determined mouth and chin looked more resolute +and daring than ever. His hands thrust deep in the pockets of his +knickerbockers he looked straight before him and repeated with emphasis,</p> + +<p>"They played every inch of the way to meet their death!"</p> + +<p>"Regular little heroes, weren't they?" said Miss Bertram.</p> + +<p>"Rather," came from Roy's lips, and then without another word he ran out +of the room.</p> + +<p>"Do you like it, David?" Miss Bertram asked, touching Dudley lightly on +the shoulder.</p> + +<p>"No—I—don't—it makes a fellow in a blue funk." And two fists were +hastily brushed across the eyes.</p> + +<p>"Shall I sing you something more cheerful?"</p> + +<p>"No, thanks, not to-night, I think I'll go to Roy."</p> + +<p>And Dudley, too, made his exit, leaving his aunt touched and amused at +the effect of the song.</p> + +<p>An hour after the rain had ceased, and the sun was shining out. Down the +village street walked the two boys enjoying their freedom more soberly +than was their wont.</p> + +<p>"We must, we must, we <i>must</i> be heroes, Dudley!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, if we get a chance."</p> + +<p>"But why shouldn't we have it as well as those two boys. I wonder +sometimes what God meant us to do when He made us! And I'm not going to +be in the dumps because I'm not very strong. For look at Nelson: old +Selby told us he was always very seedy and shaky, always ill; and not +being big in body doesn't matter, for Nelson was a little man and so was +Napoleon, and lots of the great men have been short and stumpy and +hideous! I mean to do something before I die, if only an opportunity +will come! Do you remember the story of the little chap in Holland, who +put his hand in the hole in the sand bank, and kept the whole ocean from +coming in and washing away hundreds of towns and villages? If I could +only do a thing like that, something that would do good to millions of +people; something that would be worth living for! If I could save +somebody's life from fire, or drowning, or some kind of danger! Don't +you long for something of that sort, eh?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know that I do," was the slow response; "but I should like you +to get a chance of it if you want it so much."</p> + +<p>"Oh, wasn't it splendid of those two little chaps—a whole regiment! And +only those two who didn't run away! I think I could stand fire like +that, couldn't you?"</p> + +<p>"I would with you."</p> + +<p>"But I don't expect I'll ever go into the army." This in sorrowful +tones.</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, they'd never have me. I'm too thin round the chest; nurse says I'm +like a bag of bones, and I wouldn't make a smart soldier. Now you'd be a +splendid one, no one could be ashamed of you."</p> + +<p>"Well, I won't go without you."</p> + +<p>"But I'll do something worth living for," repeated Roy, tossing up his +head and giving a stamp as he spoke; "and I'll seize the first +opportunity that comes."</p> + +<p>Dudley was silent. They had now reached the low stone bridge over the +river, a favorite resort amongst all the village boys for fishing; and +quite a little group of them were collected there. Roy and Dudley were +welcomed eagerly as though perhaps at times they were inclined to assume +patronizing and masterful airs; yet their extreme generosity and love +for all country sport made them general favorites with the villagers.</p> + +<p>Roy was soon in the midst of an eager discussion about the best bait for +trout; and was presently startled by a heavy splash over the bridge. +Looking up, to his amazement, he saw Dudley struggling in the water.</p> + +<p>"Help, Roy, I'm drowning!"</p> + +<p>Both boys were capital swimmers, but Roy saw that Dudley seemed +incapable of keeping himself up, and in one second he threw off his +jacket, and dived head foremost off the bridge to the rescue. The +current of the river was strong here, for a mill wheel was only a short +distance off; and it was hard work to swim safely ashore. Roy +accomplished it successfully amidst the cheers of the admiring group on +the bridge; and when once on dry ground again, neither of the boys +seemed the worse for the wetting. In the hubbub that ensued Dubley was +not questioned as to the cause of the accident; but it appeared that his +feet had got entangled in some string and netting that one of the boys +had brought with him to the bridge, and it was this that had prevented +him from swimming.</p> + +<p>"It's awfully nice that I had the chance of helping you," said Roy, as +the two boys were running home as fast as they could to change their +wet clothes; "I didn't hurt you in the water, did I? I believe I gave a +pretty good tug to your hair, I was awfully glad you hadn't had your +hair cut lately."</p> + +<p>"You've saved my life," said Dudley, staring at Roy with a peculiar +gravity; "if you hadn't dashed over to me, I should have been sucked +down by that old wheel, and should have been a dead man by this time. +You've done to-day what you were longing to do."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but I tell you I felt awfully squeamish when I saw you in the +water and thought I might be too late."</p> + +<p>As they neared the house, Roy's pace slackened.</p> + +<p>"Go on, Dudley, and leave me, I can't get on, I believe that horrid old +asthma is coming on, I'll follow slowly."</p> + +<p>"I'm not quite such a cad," was Dudley's retort, and then hoisting Roy +up on his back, as if that mode of proceeding was quite a usual +occurrence, he made his way into the house.</p> + +<p>They crept up to their bedrooms and changed their wet clothes before +they showed themselves to any one. Then Dudley waxed eloquent for the +occasion, and the story was told in drawing-room and servants' hall, +till every one was loud in their praises of the little rescuer.</p> + +<p>"He looks too small to have done it," said Miss Bertram, smiling; for +though Roy was Dudley's senior by two months, he was a good head +shorter.</p> + +<p>Roy got rather impatient under this adulation.</p> + +<p>"Oh, shut up, Dudley, don't be such an ass, as if I could have done +anything else!"</p> + +<p>An hour after, and Roy was sitting up in bed speechless and panting, +with the bronchitis kettle in full play, and nurse trying vainly to +battle with one of his worst bronchial attacks.</p> + +<p>"I say "—he gasped at last; "do you think—I'm going to die—this +time?"</p> + +<p>"Surely no, my pet. It's more asthma than bronchitis; I'll pull you +round, please God."</p> + +<p>Midnight came, and when nurse left the room for a minute she found a +small figure crouched down outside the door.</p> + +<p>It was Dudley.</p> + +<p>"Oh, nurse, he's very bad, isn't he? Is he going to die? What shall I +do! I shall be his murderer, I've killed him!"</p> + +<p>Dudley's eyes were wild with terror, and nurse tried to soothe him.</p> + +<p>"Don't talk nonsense, but go to bed; he'll be better in the morning, I +hope. It's just the wet, and the strain of it that's done it. There's +none to blame. You couldn't help it, and he's been as bad as this +before and pulled through. Go to bed, laddie, and ask God to make him +better."</p> + +<p>Dudley crept back to bed, and flung himself down on his pillows with a +fit of bitter weeping.</p> + +<p>"She says I couldn't help it; oh, God, make him better, make him better, +do forgive me! I never thought of this!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="III"></a><h2>III</h2> + +<p>MAKING AN OPPORTUNITY</p> + + +<p>It was two days before Dudley was allowed to see the little invalid. The +doctor had been in constant attendance; but all danger was over now, and +Roy as usual was rapidly picking up his strength again.</p> + +<p>"His constitution has wonderful rallying powers," the old doctor said; +"he is like a bit of india rubber!"</p> + +<p>It seemed to Dudley that Roy's face had got wonderfully white and small; +and there was a weary worn look in his eyes, as he turned round to greet +him.</p> + +<p>"Now sit down and talk to him, but don't let him do the talking," was +nurse's advice as she left the boys together.</p> + +<p>Dudley sat down by the bed, and squeezed hold of the little hand held +out to him.</p> + +<p>"I'm so sorry, old chap," he said, nervously; "do you feel really +better? I've been so miserable."</p> + +<p>"I'm first-rate now," was the cheerful response; "it's awfully nice +getting your breath back again; it's only made me feel a little tired, +that's all!"</p> + +<p>"It was all me!"</p> + +<p>"Why that has been my comfort," said Roy, with shining eyes; "I felt +when I was very bad, that if I died, I might have lived for something. +It would have been lovely to die for you, Dudley—at least you know to +have got myself ill from that reason; it's so very tame when I get bad +from nothing at all; but I'm well again now, so I know God is letting me +live to do something else!"</p> + +<p>"I was the one that ought to have been made ill to punish me," blurted +out Dudley, and then he was silent.</p> + +<p>Roy's eyes rested on his flushed face with some wonder.</p> + +<p>"It wasn't wicked of you to fall into the river; you couldn't help it."</p> + +<p>A crimson flush crept over Dudley's face up to the very roots of his +hair; he picked the fringe of the counterpane restlessly between his +fingers, and kicked his heels against the legs of his chair. Silence +again: Roy looked steadily at him; and then an expression of +astonishment and bewilderment flitted across his face, followed by one +of strange, conviction.</p> + +<p>"Dudley, look at me."</p> + +<p>Roy's tone was peremptory, but Dudley never moved, until the command was +given in a sharper tone. Then he raised his head, but his blue eyes had +a guilty harassed look in them, and he dropped them quickly again.</p> + +<p>"It's no good; I've found you out. Did you tie up your feet like that +yourself?"</p> + +<p>After a minute, in a sepulchral tone, came the words, "Yes, when you +weren't looking!"</p> + +<p>Roy lay back on his pillows with a sigh.</p> + +<p>A little disappointment mingled with his feelings which were somewhat +mixed. After a pause, he said, "You <i>are</i> a good fellow! To think of +doing that for me! What would you have done if I hadn't jumped in to +save you?"</p> + +<p>Then Dudley raised his head:</p> + +<p>"I knew you wouldn't fail me," he said, triumphantly; "I knew I could +trust you!"</p> + +<p>Roy put out his thin little arm and drew Dudley's bonny face down by the +side of his on the pillow.</p> + +<p>"I don't think," he whispered, "that even I could have been plucky +enough to do that—not in sight of that old mill wheel!"</p> + +<p>Neither spoke for a few minutes; then Dudley said,</p> + +<p>"I should have been your murderer if you had died. That has been the +worst of it. But you did like saving a drowning fellow, didn't you?"</p> + +<p>"Ye-es, but it wasn't quite real—at least it isn't as if you really had +tumbled in by accident."</p> + +<p>"Well but I only did what you said we must do. I made an opportunity."</p> + +<p>And after this remark Roy had nothing more to say; but neither he nor +Dudley ever enlightened any one as to the true cause of the accident.</p> + +<p>When Roy had quite recovered, the two boys set out one afternoon to +visit their greatest friend in the village. This was the old man every +one called "old Principle." He lived by himself in a curious +three-cornered house at the extreme end of the village, and kept a +little general shop where everything but eatables could be obtained.</p> + +<p>"I keep every article that man, woman, or child can want for their use, +for their homes, their work or their play; but food and drink I will not +cater for. It's against my principles to sell perishable goods, and I +will not be the one to minister to the very lowest animal wants of my +fellow creatures."</p> + +<p>This was his favorite speech, from which it may be judged he was +somewhat of a character.</p> + +<p>He had several hobbies, and was a well-read man and superior to those +around him; and perhaps this was the cause of his holding himself aloof +from most of the villagers. They termed him "cranky and cracked," but +his goods were always acceptable, and he was thoroughly successful in +his business. When his shop was closed he would go out on the hills, +and there spend his time studying geology and botany. He knew the name +of every plant and insect, and the strata of the earth for many miles +round; and it was out of doors that the boys first made his +acquaintance.</p> + +<p>They found him on this afternoon seated behind his counter mending an +eight-day clock.</p> + +<p>"Well, old Principle, how are you?" said Roy, climbing up to the counter +and sitting comfortably on it with his legs dangling in mid air; "we +haven't seen you for ages."</p> + +<p>"Are you going out this evening?" enquired Dudley, as he proceeded to +follow Roy's example.</p> + +<p>"To be sure, when my work is done," responded the old man pushing up his +spectacles and regarding the boys with kindly eyes; "these light +evenings are my delight, as you know. If you sit still till I have +finished this clock, I will show you a treasure I found yesterday."</p> + +<p>"Can you mend everything?" asked Roy, curiously; "I never knew you +understood about clocks."</p> + +<p>"I've learned to mend most things," was the answer; "it isn't given to +every one to make, and I'm one of the menders in the world not the +makers. There's one thing I can't mend—and that is broken hearts."</p> + +<p>There was silence: Roy broke it at last by saying with knitted brow, +"I'd rather be a maker than a mender, but lots of people aren't either."</p> + +<p>"Quite right," nodded the old man; "most folk are breakers."</p> + +<p>"I wish I was as clever as you," said Dudley; "you mend umbrellas, and +kettles, and plates, and windows, and gates, and all sorts. How did you +learn?"</p> + +<p>"Well, I ain't ashamed of owning that my father was just a travelling +tinker, and when I was a little fellow I used to go round with him and +see him do most things. It was from travelling through the country I +learned to love it so. And my father, he was a thoughtful man, and when +I used to ask where the tin came from, and where the iron and where the +lead, he took to learning of it up so that he could answer me; and then +I came to find that most of our comforts come from underground, and so I +fell to digging. Ah, youngsters, earth is a wonderful treasure house!"</p> + +<p>The clock was done. Old Principle put it carefully by and then mounted +on some wooden steps, and took down a tin saucepan. The boys knew the +shelf well; as though apparently it was just a row of tinware for sale, +many a pot and pan held treasures that geologists would have given a +great deal to possess.</p> + +<p>Now when old Principle held out a peculiar shaped stone with loving +pride, Roy and Dudley pressed forward to look at it.</p> + +<p>"I know, it's a Roman hammer," shouted out Dudley.</p> + +<p>"It's a Saxon jug," suggested Roy.</p> + +<p>"It's part of a jaw of a mammoth many thousands of years old, and there +are two teeth in perfect preservation," old Principle said solemnly.</p> + +<p>"Where did you find it?"</p> + +<p>"Ah, you must come and see! In a cave that I have only just discovered, +and which must originally have been by the side of a river. I'll take +you there to-night if you can get permission to come."</p> + +<p>Nothing delighted the boys more than an expedition with old Principle. +They promised to be down at his shop punctually at half-past seven that +evening, and then the conversation drifted into other channels.</p> + +<p>"Old Principle, do you think we ought to make opportunities?" questioned +Dudley, presently; "Roy thinks we ought, and I did make one the other +day, but it didn't turn out well."</p> + +<p>"Ay, Master Roy is always for making," said the old man with a smile; +"he will try and cram his life with what will come fast enough +naturally, if he only waits."</p> + +<p>"But will it?" questioned Roy, flushing up with eagerness; "do you +think it will? I'm longing to do something big and grand and good; I +mayn't live to grow up you know, and I'm sure we're meant to do +something when we're boys."</p> + +<p>"We're trying to do good to all men as we have opportunity," said +Dudley, gravely.</p> + +<p>"Ay, stick to that, boys, and you'll succeed. There's none too small to +be true philanthropists."</p> + +<p>"What is a philanthropist?" asked Roy.</p> + +<p>"A man who benefits his fellow creatures. 'Tis a good principle to keep +in mind."</p> + +<p>"But it's difficult for boys to do grown-up people good. They always do +boys good."</p> + +<p>"Now look here, Master Roy. I've lived and learned where you haven't, +and I try and pass my principles on to you. That's how I do you good. +You come to me and take what I give you and seeing you act out the +advice I offers you does me good. You do me good too, every time you +comes to see me; it's cheery to hear and see you."</p> + +<p>"But that's very tame for us," said Roy, a little scornfully.</p> + +<p>"Oh, well, if your own likes must come into the question, it's a +different story! I didn't know it mattered about our feelings as long as +the good is done! 'Tis a bad principle to try to please others only when +it pleases ourselves."</p> + +<p>Roy looked a little ashamed of himself. He said no more on the subject, +and shortly after he and Dudley ran home to tea.</p> + +<p>They were very disappointed when their aunt refused to let them go out +again that evening.</p> + +<p>"It is too damp a night for Jonathan to be wandering through wet grass +and bog. You can go, David, if you like, but he must wait for another +opportunity."</p> + +<p>"I shan't go without Roy," said Dudley, sturdily.</p> + +<p>"We'll come and make a cave in the attic," suggested Roy, trying to be +cheerful.</p> + +<p>And for the rest of that evening they were absorbed in making a great +dust and racket amongst lumber boxes far away from their grandmother's +hearing.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="IV"></a><h2>IV</h2> +<br> + +<p>AN AWKWARD VISIT</p> + +<p>"And how do you know a river has been here?"</p> + +<p>"By the soil and by the relics I have found. Look at this fossil. Do you +see the outline of the fish? Fish don't live on dry ground."</p> + +<p>"There might have been a fishman passing by who dropped one out of his +cart."</p> + +<p>Old Principle laughed at Dudley's sceptical notion, and went on +shovelling out earth with great alacrity. It was Saturday afternoon: old +Principle had shut up his shop and taken the boys up to the hills +surrounding the little village, where in a ravine between two +precipitous crags, in the midst of a green bower of ferns and moss, he +was hard at work excavating an old cave that had been buried for many +years out of sight.</p> + +<p>Dudley and Roy were eagerly helping and chattering as only boys know +how.</p> + +<p>"This little ravine has been formed by a mountain stream rushing down," +continued the old man, resting on his spade for a minute; "'tis a good +principle, Master Dudley, to trust grown-up folks' knowledge better than +your own."</p> + +<p><a href="ill036.jpg"><img src="ill036_sm.jpg" alt=""Old Principle laughed at Dudley's notion.""></a> + +<p>"I wish," said Roy, reflectively, "that this cave was nearer home; it would +be so lovely to come out whenever we wanted to, wouldn't it, Dudley? +Perhaps some king has hidden away in it, or soldier when he was pursued +by his enemies!"</p> + +<p>"Hulloo," said Dudley, looking up the hill; "here is such a funny +looking woman coming down with a donkey, her skirt is nearly up to her +knees, and she has a man's boots on."</p> + +<p>Old Principle paused in his work, and in a minute or two greeted the +newcomer.</p> + +<p>"Good-afternoon, Mrs. Cullen, how's your husband to-day?"</p> + +<p>"Badly, very badly, but I's forced to leave he. I lock the door and put +the key in me pocket, for I's bin up the hill yonner cuttin' peat sin +seven o'clock this mornin'. He do get awfu' lonesome, he say, an' if me +niece hadn't a married and gone to 'Merica, I should have kept she to +tend him."</p> + +<p>"Who is she?" asked Roy, as after a few more words the woman moved on.</p> + +<p>"She lives at the bottom of the hill over there. Her husband has been +ill of consumption these last two years, and she works to support them +both. She's a hard-working woman, is Martha Cullen; she works in the +fields harvesting just now; if I could feel I'd be welcome I would go to +sit with her husband sometimes, but she's very queer, she won't let a +neighbor come near him, I have tried more than once. It seems hard on +him to be bedridden there day after day without a soul to speak to; or +any one to give him a drink!"</p> + +<p>Roy gazed thoughtfully after the retreating figure of the woman, and +then turned his attention again to the cave.</p> + +<p>When an hour later he and Dudley were walking home footsore, and rather +dirty, but with little bundles of treasures from the cave in their +grubby hands, he startled his cousin by saying—</p> + +<p>"To-morrow we'll go and see Martha Cullen's husband. It's an opportunity +for us."</p> + +<p>"How shall we get in?" queried Dudley.</p> + +<p>"Climb in at the window. She told old Principle she would be out all day +at Farmer Stubbs. We'll go and do him good."</p> + +<p>"How?"</p> + +<p>"We'll wash his face, and make him a cup of tea, and sweep his room, and +give him his medicine," responded Roy, readily; "that's what nurse does +when she goes to visit any of Aunt Judy's sick people."</p> + +<p>Dudley did not look as if he relished the prospect before him.</p> + +<p>"That's girls' and women's work," he said; "boys needn't do that kind of +thing."</p> + +<p>Roy flushed up angrily.</p> + +<p>"All right, if you don't want to come, stay at home. It is a week since +we started to do good when the opportunity came, and we haven't done any +good to any one. I'm not going to waste any more time."</p> + +<p>Then after a pause he added, "Besides I think it will be rather fun +breaking into a strange cottage; we may have to get down the chimney."</p> + +<p>At this Dudley's face cleared.</p> + +<p>"I'll come," he said; "we'll go directly after dinner."</p> + +<p>"And we'll stow away a little of our pudding to take him—sick people +always have puddings."</p> + +<p>They had no difficulty in carrying out this plan. They always dined in +the nursery, and if nurse wondered at the amount of pudding that her +charges managed to consume that day, her old eyes were not sharp enough +to detect the transfer from plates to pockets. She sent them out into +the garden to play, and they soon were scampering out of the back gate +and along the road toward the little cottage at the bottom of the hill.</p> + +<p>It was a warm afternoon, and when they at length came near it they threw +themselves down on the grass to rest.</p> + +<p>"We mustn't frighten the old man," said Dudley, gazing at the thatched +cottage with a critical eye. "I see the windows are tight shut in +front, but there's one open at the side; we must creep up very quietly +and get in before he sees us, and then we can explain who we are."</p> + +<p>"And if the window won't do, we'll try the chimney, it looks a jolly big +one."</p> + +<p>Then after a pause—</p> + +<p>"I suppose he'll be glad to see us?"</p> + +<p>"Of course he will. He must be dreadfully dull all alone."</p> + +<p>A few minutes after, they were holding a whispered consultation outside +a small pantry window through which Roy was going to squeeze himself.</p> + +<p>"I'll go first. It will be a tight fit for you, Dudley, but I'll give +you a good pull through, and you must hold your breath well in."</p> + +<p>"It's a kind of housebreaking," Dudley said, ripples of fun passing over +his face; "I don't mind visiting sick people if we go in at their +windows like this!"</p> + +<p>But Roy's little face was full of anxious gravity and purpose, and he +checked Dudley's inclination to laugh at once.</p> + +<p>He accomplished his part successfully, and then poor Dudley was hauled +and pulled at till purple in the face, and breathless with exertion, he +exclaimed, "I'm being squashed to a jelly; let go, I can't do it!"</p> + +<p>"Just one more try—now then—there, we've done it!"</p> + +<p>But Roy's exclamation of delight was drowned in an awful crash, as +Dudley swept off some shelves a bowl of milk, two plates, and a cup of +soup, and fell to the ground himself in the midst of it all.</p> + +<p>Immediately a man's voice called out, "Who's there! Hi! Help! Thieves! +Help!"</p> + +<p>Roy darted into the kitchen, and confronted a tall, hollow-cheeked man +who had scrambled out of his bed in the chimney corner, and stood +trembling from head to foot clutching hold of the bed-post, and coughing +violently.</p> + +<p>He did not seem at all appeased at the sight of the boys, but shook his +fist at them in a paroxysm of fright and rage.</p> + +<p>"Go away, you young blackguards—a robbin' honest folk, and a darin' to +show yer impudent faces, and disturbin' a dyin' man, knowin' as he's too +bad to give yer the hidin' ye desarve!"</p> + +<p>Roy was quite taken aback.</p> + +<p>"You're quite mistaken—let us explain—we've come to see you and do you +good. Don't you know who we are? We live at the Manor. Look—get back +into bed again, you'll take cold. We've brought you some pudding."</p> + +<p>Here a parcel of currant pudding was taken out of his jacket pocket and +held out temptingly.</p> + +<p>"A' don't believe a word! Ye've been in the pantry a smashin' the +missus' things, and a eatin' and a drinkin' all ye can lay hands +on—begone, I tell ye!"</p> + +<p>"That was me," put in Dudley, edging up to the irate invalid; "you see +the door was locked and we had to come in at the window, and I'm rather +fat about the shoulders, and Roy jerked me through too quick and I fell +amongst some plates. But we really haven't stolen anything, we aren't +robbers!"</p> + +<p>"Begone, ye rascals!" repeated the old man, and then such a violent fit +of coughing took possession of him that he sank back on his bed +perfectly exhausted and helpless, waving them away and shaking his head +at them when they tried to approach him.</p> + +<p>Dudley looked doubtfully at Roy.</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid we aren't doing him any good," he said, slowly. "He won't +let us."</p> + +<p>"No," was Roy's response, "we must go, I suppose. He is a foolish, +stupid old man, or he would listen to us and let us explain."</p> + +<p>Then advancing again to the sick man Roy said slowly and solemnly, +"You'll be very sorry one day when you know how you've treated us, and +we shall never, never try to see you again, or bring you pudding or +comfort you, <i>never</i>! If you had let us, we should have washed your +face and hands, and made you some gruel, and given you your medicine, +and then sat down by your bed and talked nicely to you, but you won't +let us do you good, so we shall leave you, and if you're lonely locked +in here all day with no one to speak to, it's your own fault!"</p> + +<p>Then holding his head up bravely, Roy marched out of the kitchen, and +Dudley followed him with some misgivings as to his exit again by the +pantry window. But Roy solved this difficulty.</p> + +<p>"Look here, the key is in the back door; we will unlock it and get out +properly. I'm sorry we've smashed those plates."</p> + +<p>They walked home in the deepest dejection; as they went through the +village there met them on the bridge the same man that had passed them +when on the garden wall. He was much the worse for drink, and seemed +inclined to be quarrelsome.</p> + +<p>"Look 'ee here now, I'll just trouble 'ee to give me another sixpence, +young gent, or I'll help myself, and no nonsense, for I'm the feller for +fightin'!"</p> + +<p>He stood barring their way, lurching from side to side, and brandishing +a stick in his hand.</p> + +<p>Neither of the boys were daunted. Dudley shouted out,</p> + +<p>"Let us by at once, or we'll make you! You'd better look out how you +cheek us!"</p> + +<p>And Roy in a moment had his jacket off, and was rolling up his shirt +sleeves.</p> + +<p>"Come on, Dudley, we'll lick him into shape, if he dares to touch us!"</p> + +<p>What might have befallen our two little heroes cannot be told, for at +this critical juncture the rector came up, and in stern, commanding +tones ordered the man on.</p> + +<p>"That stamp of man is a pest in the place," he said; "he won't be +influenced for good but hangs about the ale-houses and lives on the +proceeds of his begging. If people only knew the harm they do in giving +him money instead of a little honest work! Well, boys, run along home, +it's a good thing I came up to stop a free fight. How do you think you +two atoms could have got the better of a man like that? 'Discretion is +the better part of valor' remember. Keep your fists for a good cause. +And never entice a drunken man to fight. It is a degrading spectacle."</p> + +<p>Saying which Mr. Selby passed on, and Roy and Dudley walked home without +saying a word to each other.</p> + +<p>By the time they had finished their tea, they recovered their spirits, +and were in the midst of an exciting game of cricket in a field +adjoining the house with the old coachman and the stable-boy, when a +summons came to them from the house to come in at once to their aunt.</p> + +<p>"What's up, I wonder!" exclaimed Dudley, as he raced Roy up to the front +door; "Aunt Judy never sends for us at dinner time."</p> + +<p>They found their aunt in the library. She was in her dinner dress and +the dinner gong was sounding in the hall, but her face was puzzled as +she turned from a woman talking to her, to the boys.</p> + +<p>"My nephews are little gentlemen; you must be mistaken," she was saying.</p> + +<p>Roy and Dudley recognized the woman immediately. It was Mrs. Cullen, and +their hearts sank.</p> + +<p>"Come here, boys," Miss Bertram said; "I have been hearing a strange +story from Mrs. Cullen, of two boys breaking into her house while she +was away this afternoon, frightening her dying husband so much that the +doctor fears he won't outlive the night, and breaking, and stealing +things from her pantry. She insists upon it that it was you; her husband +told her so, but I cannot believe it. You would have no object in +behaving so wickedly."</p> + +<p>Dudley's cheeks were crimson, and he hung his head in shame. Roy, as +usual, was not daunted.</p> + +<p>"It's all a great mistake, Aunt Judy, we never stole a thing; we went +to see him and take him some pudding and do him good. We had to get in +at the pantry window because the doors were all locked, and we did spill +some milk and some soup, and broke a few plates. We couldn't make him +understand we weren't robbers, so we came away again—and we're very +sorry."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Cullen turned furiously upon them, and her language was so abusive, +that Miss Bertram sent the boys away, and brought the poor woman to +reason by quiet, persuasive words.</p> + +<p>"I will enquire into the matter. I cannot quite understand their motive; +boys are thoughtless, and perhaps their intentions were good. I know +they will be extremely sorry at the result of their visit. If you come +with me to the housekeeper she will give you some good, strong soup for +your husband. I will come and see him myself the first thing to-morrow +morning."</p> + +<p>It was not till after she had dined with her mother, that Miss Bertram +sent for her little nephews again, and then she gave them a severer +scolding than they had received from her for a long time. They crept up +to bed that night feeling very woe-begone.</p> + +<p>"I'm sure we'd better give up these opportunities," said Dudley, +disconsolately, as they paused at an old staircase window on their way +to their rooms; "you see this is the third one, and they all turn out +badly. There was that tramp who must have got drunk with your sixpence, +and then there was saving me, and that made you so awfully ill, and now +here's this old fellow that perhaps we shall make die. It all goes +wrong, somehow."</p> + +<p>Roy looked out of the window with knitted brow.</p> + +<p>"I was thinking of that King—Bruce—who saw the spider try three times +and then succeed. We must try again, that's all! I shan't give up yet. +It is really a big opportunity I'm looking for!"</p> + +<p>And Roy laid his head down on the pillow that night, steadfastly +purposing to continue his rôle of benefiting the human race.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="V"></a><h2>V</h2> +<br> + +<p>A LOST DONKEY</p> + +<p>Fortunately for the boys, John Cullen got over his fright and took a +turn for the better, but Miss Bertram began to exercise more control +over their many spare hours. She took them out driving with her in the +afternoon, or expeditions by foot; sometimes to some farmhouse to tea, +sometimes to some neighboring squire who had young ones to entertain +them. And Dudley in his happy, careless way soon put all thoughts of +improved opportunities out of his head. He was ready enough to put into +action any proposal of Roy's, but left alone he was perfectly content to +enjoy himself in his own easy fashion; and Roy seemed to be willing to +let the matter rest, as he never now alluded to it.</p> + +<p>But one morning two or three weeks later, as the boys were returning +from the Rectory with their satchels in their hands, they met an old man +they knew in deep distress.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter, Roger?" asked Roy; "why are you muttering away and +shaking your head so?"</p> + +<p>"Ay, young master, I be in a sorrowful plight. My donkey has strayed +away and I cannot find she nowheres. I've been up over the hills, and +not a sign of she! And it's to-morrow that's market day, and how I'm to +get my veggetubbles to town is more'n I can tell 'ee!"</p> + +<p>"She can't be lost; when did you have her last?"</p> + +<p>"'Twas yest'day mornin'. Ay, she be just a kickin' up her heels miles +away and a laughin' at her poor old master. She be a terrible beast for +strayin', and I just let her out on the green for a bit thinkin' to give +her a pleasure, and that's how she treats me, the ungrateful creature! I +heerd she were seen on the hills, but I'm a weary of trampin' up and +down 'em."</p> + +<p>"We'll go out on the hills and look for her this afternoon," said Roy, +eagerly.</p> + +<p>"If Aunt Judy will let us," added Dudley.</p> + +<p>But Miss Bertram having gone out to lunch with some friends could not be +asked, so the two boys set out after their early dinner with light +hearts.</p> + +<p>"It's doing old Roger good, and ourselves too," said Roy; "I'm longing +to have a good outing, and we needn't be back very early, for granny +isn't well enough to see us to-day, nurse said."</p> + +<p>It was a delicious afternoon for a ramble; a soft breeze was blowing, +and the sun was not unpleasantly strong. The boys did a good deal of +looking for the missing donkey, but also managed to combine with that a +few other things, such as bird-nesting, picking wild strawberries, and +enjoying themselves as only boys can, when roaming about in the open +air. At last rather late in the afternoon they spied in the distance a +donkey, and delighted to think their quest was at an end, they hastened +up to it.</p> + +<p>Dudley had brought some carrots in his pocket, but the donkey was +utterly indifferent to such a dainty; she waited till the boys were +nearly up to her, and then with a kick up of her heels away she +galloped, evidently enjoying the chase.</p> + +<p>"Won't I give her a licking when I catch her," shouted Dudley, +wrathfully, as after a long and tiring race, they stopped a minute to +rest; "let us leave her and go home, Roy. I'm sure it's tea time, for I +feel dreadfully hungry, and we're miles and miles away. I've never been +so far before."</p> + +<p>"Oh, we mustn't give up," Roy replied, with his usual determination; "we +won't be beaten by an old donkey, and when we do catch her, we will both +get on her back and ride her home. Come on, let us have another try!"</p> + +<p>"We haven't got a halter, that's the worst of it." </p> + +<p><a href="ill053.jpg"><img src="ill053_sm.jpg" alt=""'Now then, you rascals, what are you doing to my donkey?'""></a></p> + +<p>But Dudley plucked up courage, and in another half hour they were +successful; Roy seated on the donkey's back, and Dudley holding firmly +to her tail.</p> + +<p>"Now then—away with you—hip—hip—hurray!"</p> + +<p>Away they tore, both donkey and boys in best of spirits now: but before +long they were brought to a standstill. A man brandishing a huge stick +sprang out in front of them.</p> + +<p>"Now then, you rascals, what are you doing to my donkey? Get off it this +instant!"</p> + +<p>"It isn't your donkey, it's old Roger's, and we're taking it home to +him. Don't you cheek us! You're a rascal yourself!"</p> + +<p>Dudley spoke angrily, but as he noticed the donkey stop instantly, and +begin to sidle up toward the man an awful fear smote him, and Roy added +quietly,</p> + +<p>"You see you may be a thief or any one, for all we know, and it isn't +likely we're going to let you have the chance of stealing old Roger's +donkey. You go away and leave us alone. We're going home now—Gee-up. +Come on, Dudley."</p> + +<p>Not an inch would the donkey stir; and the man with a laugh, slipped a +halter out of his pocket and in another minute Roy was rolling on the +grass, and the donkey was being led off in the opposite direction.</p> + +<p>"You may think yourselves lucky to escape the thrashing ye desarves!" +shouted out the man; "ye've given me a nice chase after my beast for the +last hour, and ye needn't add a pack of lies to your wicked pranks!"</p> + +<p>The boys sat down on the grass to consider their position.</p> + +<p>"Well, I call it beastly rot," grumbled Dudley, thoroughly cross; "if +that's his donkey I don't believe old Roger's is on the hills at all. It +must have been this one that somebody saw, and now I come to think of it +Roger's has a black stripe down her back, and this one hadn't!"</p> + +<p>"I'm so awfully tired," said Roy, disconsolately; "we've done no good as +usual. I don't believe we ever shall do any one any good!"</p> + +<p>When Roy's spirits sank it was a bad case, and for some minutes there +was silence between them. Then feeling they must make the best of it +they scrambled to their feet and plodded slowly on in the direction of +home. A heavy mist was falling by this time, and dusk was setting in. +Roy began to cough, and at last in despair Dudley cried out, "I do +believe we're lost; I don't know where the path is, and I'm sure this +isn't the way we came!"</p> + +<p>"Well," said Roy, gasping as he spoke; "I'm afraid this old mist is +getting into my chest, and I can't go very fast when my breath gets +short. What shall we do? Can you shout—p'raps that man with the donkey +might hear us."</p> + +<p>Dudley shouted and shouted till he was hoarse, and then the little +fellows trudged wearily on.</p> + +<p>"You see," said Roy, bravely; "we must get somewhere if we go straight +on."</p> + +<p>"I believe," said Dudley, in doleful tones; "that you get right round +the world and come back to where you started, if you only walk straight +enough!"</p> + +<p>This depressing view did not comfort his cousin.</p> + +<p>"I've always thought it would be very exciting to be lost," Roy said +with a sigh; "but it doesn't seem very nice, does it? And it is so cold. +I wonder if we shall meet with any adventures, lost people generally +do."</p> + +<p>"If we could come into a gipsies' camp with a huge fire and a pot of +stewed hares, it would be stunning! Or if we could find old Principle's +cave, that would be better still!"</p> + +<p>They were stumbling on, Roy gasping and panting for breath, and Dudley +every minute or two giving a shout, when suddenly almost as if he had +risen from the ground, a lad appeared in front of them.</p> + +<p>"We're lost," shouted Dudley; "who are you? Can you tell us where +Crockton village is?"</p> + +<p>"Ay, can't I! You're only about four mile off!"</p> + +<p>"Is it straight on?" questioned Roy, wistfully.</p> + +<p>"No, you're goin' away from it."</p> + +<p>The lad stood looking down at the two small boys and there was some pity +in his tone.</p> + +<p>"The little 'un is dead beat. Here—let me hoist you on my back, I'd as +lief go to Crockton as anywhere else to-night, and I know every inch of +these hills, I've been looking after cattle here since I were a babby! +There now, ain't that better?"</p> + +<p>Roy was too tired out to resist, though he made a faint protest, and +Dudley seeing him comfortably settled on the broad shoulders of the lad, +trotted along contentedly by his side.</p> + +<p>"How did you find us? Did you hear us shouting?"</p> + +<p>"I was trapping some moles close to yer, as ye came on."</p> + +<p>"Where do you live? And what's your name?"</p> + +<p>"I'm called Rob. I don't live nowheres now. Got chucked out last night!"</p> + +<p>And Rob gave a short laugh as he spoke.</p> + +<p>"Where from?"</p> + +<p>"Well, you see there's a lot of us, and the old woman—she's my +stepmother—she told me she wouldn't keep me no longer. My father—he +died last year, and work is hard to get. I'll tramp into some town and +try my luck there."</p> + +<p>"Then where were you going to sleep to-night?"</p> + +<p>"Sleep? Oh, bless yer—there's plenty o' room and accommodation in the +open. And I haven't been about these parts for so long without knowing +many a snug corner. I could show yer plenty a one. My pet one has been +found out by some old chap lately. He goes into it and digs up +quantities o' stones and then sits and hugs them, all as if they was +gold! I laugh to see him sometimes!"</p> + +<p>"Why that must be old Principle, and that's the cave he thinks so much +of! He looks for bones."</p> + +<p>Rob gave another of his hearty laughs.</p> + +<p>"Well, if he has a taste that way, why don't he go to a churchyard, +he'll dig to more success there."</p> + +<p>"No, it's only animals' bones he likes, very, very old ones."</p> + +<p>They tramped on, and then Roy asked if he could be put down, and Dudley +given a lift instead. Rob good-naturedly assented, but some minutes were +spent in altercation between the two boys before Dudley would consent +to this arrangement.</p> + +<p>"You're as tired as I am," persisted Roy.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, I'm not—at least it's only my legs. You see I haven't a chest +like you. I'll manage, it's always you that gets home ill, I never do."</p> + +<p>"I can't help it," said Roy, in a shaky voice; "I know I shall never be +good for anything, I don't think I'm much better than a girl, I suppose +I ought to have been made one."</p> + +<p>Roy was always in the depths of misery when he came to this climax, and +Dudley hastened to reassure him.</p> + +<p>"Rot! You're as good a walker as I any day. Yes, I'll have a ride on +your back, Rob, if you like. I'm nearly done for, and Roy looks quite +fresh again."</p> + +<p>There was great commotion when the trio reached the Manor at last. Miss +Bertram came out into the hall to greet them with an anxious face.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you scamps! You'll turn my hair grey before long. Where have you +been? Half the village has turned out to look for you! What mischief +have you been up to?"</p> + +<p>When the explanation was given Miss Bertram gave a little groan.</p> + +<p>"If we are going to have these kind of expeditions, I really must insist +upon your leaving off trying to do other people good. Old Roger told me +he found his donkey quite early in the afternoon. Now come off to bed +both of you. I believe nurse is already getting her poultice ready in +anticipation of a bad night, Jonathan!"</p> + +<p>"What is Rob going to do?" Roy asked, shortly after, when he was +comfortably tucked up in bed, and was enjoying a hot basin of bread and +milk. Miss Bertram had just come in to see how he was.</p> + +<p>"Is that the lad that brought you back? He is having a good supper in +the kitchen, and then will go home, I suppose."</p> + +<p>"But he hasn't any home," said Roy, putting down his spoon and looking +at his aunt with an anxious face; "he can't get work, so his mother +turned him out of doors, and I want him to come and live with us, and +when I grow up he shall be my servant!"</p> + +<p>Miss Bertram laughed.</p> + +<p>"My dear boy, not quite so fast. I shall not turn him out to-night, if +he has no home to go to; but we cannot keep a lot of idle boys about the +establishment."</p> + +<p>Roy's brown eyes filled with tears. It was so rarely that he showed his +feelings that his aunt began to wonder whether he was not too weak and +exhausted from his walk to be talked to.</p> + +<p>"Don't worry your little head over him," she said, kindly; "go to +sleep, and I'll let you see him to-morrow morning."</p> + +<p>"Have you ever been lost, Aunt Judy?"</p> + +<p>Roy was struggling for self-command, and his voice was very quiet.</p> + +<p>"No, I'm thankful to say I never have."</p> + +<p>"I prayed to God," he went on solemnly; "that He would send some one to +show us the way home, and Rob was the answer. And when he took me up on +his shoulders and I knew he was taking me home, I thought of that +picture over there!"</p> + +<p>Roy pointed to a print of the Good Shepherd with the lost sheep across +his shoulders, and Miss Bertram's face softened as she stooped and +kissed her little nephew.</p> + +<p>"Good-night dear. We will see what can be done."</p> + +<p>She left the room and when nurse came bustling up to see if the bread +and milk had disappeared she found her little charge gazing dreamily in +front of him.</p> + +<p>"Come, dearie, eat your supper. Don't you feel easier?"</p> + +<p>"I was thinking," Roy said, slowly bringing back his gaze to the basin +before him; "that if you're very strong you miss a lot of comfort; and +however big and strong I grow up to be, I hope I shan't be too big and +strong to be carried by Him!"</p> + +<p>He pointed to the picture again, and good old nurse responded,</p> + +<p>"If you outgrow the Lord, you'll outgrow heaven!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="VI"></a><h2>VI</h2> +<br> + +<p>ROB</p> + +<p>Roy was not allowed to go to the Rectory the next morning as it was +rather damp, and nurse was carefully trying to ward off a bronchial +attack, but he was permitted to see Rob, and the latter came in looking +rather sheepish and as if he did not know what to do with his hands and +his feet.</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do, Rob?" asked Roy, eagerly, after their first +greetings had been exchanged; "you aren't going home again?"</p> + +<p>"I'd sooner be shot," was the short reply.</p> + +<p>"I've been talking to Aunt Judy about you again this morning, and she +says if you would like to help our old gardener in the garden and could +get a character from some one, she'd try you. I don't quite know what +she means about the character. I thought that belonged to you and not to +any one else. She says she doesn't know what you're like, but I told her +I'd find out. I say, take a chair, won't you. Now then, you don't mind +my asking you a few questions, do you? Are you a thief?"</p> + +<p>Rob took the chair that was offered him, squared his shoulders, and +looked up with a pleasant smile at this blunt question.</p> + +<p>"No, I ain't that."</p> + +<p>"Have you ever killed anybody?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Are you a drunkard?"</p> + +<p>"I hate the stuff!"</p> + +<p>"Are you a fighter?"</p> + +<p>"Well, no, not a reg'lar one. I can't say I've never knocked a feller +down, or squared up with him a bit, but I don't fight till I'm driven to +it."</p> + +<p>"Are you a liar?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>Roy drew a sigh of relief, then continued: "Well, if you aren't any of +those, I'm sure Aunt Judy will have you, I told her I knew you weren't +wicked."</p> + +<p>"But I ain't no scholar," said Rob, doubtfully; "I can't write nor read, +and that's against a feller!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, well, you won't have to read and write much in the garden. Old Hal +can't read either, and he makes a cross for his name when he has to +write it. But I suppose you can learn, can't you?"</p> + +<p>Rob nodded.</p> + +<p>"You see I played truant mostly when I was sent to school, and then I +began to mind the cattle soon after I were eight year old, but if any +body would start me, I believe I could pick it up."</p> + +<p>"I'll teach you myself when I've nothing else to do," said Roy, grandly; +"for I want you to be clever. I want you to come with me, when I'm grown +up, to my big house. You shall be my head servant, and live with me +always. Would you like that?"</p> + +<p>Rob grinned, and seemed to think it a great joke.</p> + +<p>Roy continued: "Of course I shall want you more when Dudley goes away. +He has got a stepfather, so when he grows up he will go out to India, I +expect, to live with him, but we don't talk of it, and we pretend we're +never going to leave each other. Did you find Dudley very much heavier +to carry than me?"</p> + +<p>"Well, yes, he were a bit heavier."</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid I shall never catch him up, he is nearly a head taller, and +he seems to grow quicker every month. I grow so slowly. I think it is +because I lie in bed so much more than he does, I'm always having to go +to bed in the daytime when I'm ill, and that must keep you from growing, +don't you think so?"</p> + +<p>The conversation was here interrupted by Miss Bertram's entrance. She +had a long talk with Rob, and in the end took him for a month on trial, +as she had known his father.</p> + +<p>The boys were delighted, but Roy still persisted in regarding him as +his special protégé, and more than once this had occasioned a heated +argument between the two cousins.</p> + +<p>"He doesn't belong to you. You order him about as if he were your +servant," said Dudley, impatiently, one afternoon after Roy had sent Rob +on more than one errand to the house for him.</p> + +<p>"Well, so he will be one day," returned Roy, flushing up.</p> + +<p>They were seated again in their favorite corner on the wall, some ripe +plums having just been handed up to them by the obliging Rob, and Dudley +having put an extra big one in his mouth was speechless for a moment.</p> + +<p>"I suppose you'll get so fond of Rob, that you won't want me any +longer," he said, after some consideration.</p> + +<p>"Rob is my servant, but you're a friend and relation," asserted Roy.</p> + +<p>"He is an opportunity, and a pretty big one, isn't he?"</p> + +<p>"Why, yes; I never thought of that! How splendid!"</p> + +<p>Roy's large eyes were shining, and he gazed with tender pride at Rob who +was now sweeping the lawn.</p> + +<p>"We have done him good already, haven't we?" pursued Dudley, +reflectively; "only he started by doing us good. I tell you what we +might do for him. Teach him to read."</p> + +<p>Roy looked very doubtful.</p> + +<p>"It is so difficult, and he seems so stupid. I did try the other day, +for he asked me to; but I never thought any body <i>could</i> be so stupid! I +told him we would have to give it up, for it made me lose my temper so. +I thought perhaps he could go to old Principle. You see he is too big +for school, but old Principle is always saying he likes to teach people +things."</p> + +<p>"Well, that is awfully funny," said Dudley, pointing down to the pine +woods opposite them. "Talk of him and there he is! Isn't that him +walking along over there? Look—now he's stooping down to look at +something. I'm sure it's old Principle; we'll call him!"</p> + +<p>Two shrill boyish voices rang out, "Old Principle! Hi! We want you! Old +Principle!"</p> + +<p>Soon after old Principle was standing beneath the wall, having obeyed +the summons.</p> + +<p>He stood looking up at them with his straw hat pushed to the back of his +head, and his keen, piercing eyes twinkling kindly under his thick, +shaggy eyebrows.</p> + +<p>"Well, laddies, you're above me now. 'Tisn't often you can look down at +old Principle from such a superior height."</p> + +<p>"We want to ask you if we may send Rob down to you for you to teach him +to read," said Roy, eagerly.</p> + +<p>"And why have not two idle boys more time than a busy shopkeeper to do +such a thing?" demanded the old man.</p> + +<p>"Oh, well, you see," explained Roy, confusedly; "grown-up people know +how to teach, and boys don't. Besides, we aren't idle, we work hard at +lessons all the morning, and we have half an hour's prep after tea."</p> + +<p>Old Principle shook his head.</p> + +<p>"And you're the lad for making people better, and doing good to all. +'Tis a bad principle, my boy, to wait for great opportunities, and let +the small ones go!"</p> + +<p>"Do you think we ought to teach him?" questioned Dudley.</p> + +<p>"If he wants to learn, and you have the time, you will be letting the +opportunity slip, that's all. And moreover old Principle isn't going to +be the one to help you do it."</p> + +<p>The old man turned his back upon them and walked into the pine wood +again, leaving the two boys gazing after him with perturbed faces.</p> + +<p>"He's rather cross this afternoon," observed Dudley.</p> + +<p>"I s'pose he thinks it's for our good. Shall we try again? Could you +teach him one day, and me the next? That wouldn't be quite so tiring."</p> + +<p>Rob was called upon and consulted, and it was finally arranged that +every afternoon from two to three he should have a reading lesson on the +top of the garden wall.</p> + +<p>"We shan't feel sleepy here, and it's the time everybody else is taking +a nap," said Roy, trying to take a cheerful view of it. "I'm going to +try and be very patient and not be cross once, for you're our +opportunity, or one of them, isn't he, Dudley?"</p> + +<p>Dudley nodded. "The biggest we've had yet," he said.</p> + +<p>Rob grinned and went away delighted. He was a steady, honest lad, +devoted to both boys; but especially to Roy, who, without Dudley's +constant remonstrance, would have tyrannized over him to his heart's +content. Miss Bertram left them alone; she exercised a certain +supervision over Rob's work, but never objected to his joining her +little nephews' amusements.</p> + +<p>"They will not learn any harm from him," she told her mother; "and he +may teach them many things that are good."</p> + +<p>So it came to pass that reading lessons took place regularly every day +on the top of the wall, and Rob's eagerness to master all hard words, +and his humble diffidence, when his little teachers waxed wrath with +him, was touching to witness. Sometimes conversation would bear a large +part in the lessons, especially when Roy was the teacher. And Dudley +would always insist on having a break for refreshments.</p> + +<p>"You will be able to write letters for me, Rob, when I grow up," said +Roy, one afternoon, pausing in the lesson. "I don't like writing +letters, and I'm thinking of travelling round the world and discovering +countries, so I shall have to write home sometimes. You will come with +me, won't you?"</p> + +<p>"For certain I will," was the emphatic reply.</p> + +<p>"I've been thinking," pursued Roy, thoughtfully, as he let his gaze +wander from the book between them to the top of the dark pines swaying +gently in the summer breeze; "that I may be quite strong enough when I +grow up to be a discoverer. You see I can't be a soldier or sailor, but +I haven't anything the matter with me but a weak chest, and doctors say +sea voyages and travelling do weak chests good sometimes. Do you think +I'm a very poor body to look at, Rob? That's what some of the villagers +say I am, but my head and legs and arms are all right. I'm not a cripple +or a hunchback, or blind, or deaf, or dumb, so I must be very glad of +that. What do you think?"</p> + +<p>"You're just as straight and plucky as Master Dudley, and you'll grow +up a big, strong man, I dare say," said Hob, sympathetically.</p> + +<p>"Old Principle says you may be a maker, a mender, or a breaker in your +life. I want to be a maker. And I should like to find a country and make +it into a nice big town. I want to do something big. I ask God every day +to let me find something to do."</p> + +<p>"Do you believe in—in God?" asked Rob, rather sheepishly.</p> + +<p>"Of course I do; what do you mean? Don't you?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know. I don't know much about Him, only you often talk as if +you're—well quite friends with Him, and I've wondered at it."</p> + +<p>Roy brought down his gaze from the hilltops to his companion's face with +grave interest.</p> + +<p>"I've known God since I was a baby," he said. "I don't remember when I +didn't know Him. Nurse used to talk to me when I was very small, and +when my father was dying he called me to him, and said,—'Fitz Roy! +Serve God first, then your Queen, and then your fellow men!' I've always +remembered it, only you know we don't talk about these things, and I've +only told Dudley. I'm trying to serve God—you don't want to be very +strong to do that; but I'm longing to serve the Queen, and when Mr. +Selby talked to us of opportunities for doing good to all men I've been +longing to find them ever since. Don't you know much about God, Rob?"</p> + +<p>Rob shook his head. "I used to larn He made the world and me, and I know +He'll punish the wicked, but I've never tried to serve Him, and—and I +don't think as how I care about it."</p> + +<p>"P'raps you don't know about Jesus Christ?" asked Roy, solemnly.</p> + +<p>"Well, yes, I used to larn about Him when I was a kid at the +Sunday-school. I know He came into the world to save people, but I never +rightly understood why, nor what difference it makes."</p> + +<p>"I'll be able to tell you that. If He hadn't died, I suppose I shouldn't +have cared about serving God because it would have been no use—nothing +would have been any use, for we should all have had to go to hell when +we died, to punish us for our sins. We could never have got to heaven at +all."</p> + +<p>"If we had been very good I reckon we could," put in Rob, knitting his +brows with this aspect of the subject.</p> + +<p>"But you see the Bible says we can't be good, not one of us—the devil +won't let us."</p> + +<p>"But there are good people in the world."</p> + +<p>"You interrupt so," said Roy, a little impatiently. "I was going to +tell you. Jesus died to let God be able to forgive us and take us to +heaven. It's rather difficult to explain, but God punished Him <i>instead</i> +of us, do you see? So now we can all go to heaven, and the reason we try +to be good is to please Jesus because He has loved us, and the reason we +are able to be good is because Jesus helps us to be, and He can fight +the devil better than we can. There, I think I've told you it right. Now +shall we go on with the reading?"</p> + +<p>Rob said no more till after the lesson was over, then he said slowly, +"It's rather strange, that what you were a tellin' me, but I don't see +it quite. P'raps another day you'll tell me again."</p> + +<p>"If you make haste and read, I'll give you a Bible, and then you'll be +able to read about it yourself. Of course you ought to be serving God +just as much as anybody else, and you'd better begin at once!"</p> + +<p>Saying which Roy scrambled down from his high perch and raced across the +garden to the stables where he had settled to meet Dudley; whilst Rob +descended more slowly, muttering to himself, "'Tis a good thing not to +be afraid of God like Master Roy, but I doubt if I should ever get to +serve Him!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="VII"></a><h2>VII</h2> +<br> + +<p>A WALNUT STOKY</p> + +<p>"I say, Dudley, do come out for a ride! Aunt Judy is with granny, and +she says the house must be quiet, and I hate being in a quiet house. +Come on! What are you doing?"</p> + +<p>Roy finished his sentence by springing on Dudley's back, and as he was +in a crouching attitude in a corner of the old nursery, he brought him +flat to the ground by his unexpected attack. For a minute or two both +boys rolled on the ground in each other's clutches, and feet and hands +were having a busy time of it. Then Dudley sprang to his feet.</p> + +<p>"I like you coming in to tell me to be quiet, and then beginning a fight +at once! Do shut up! You've quite spoilt my last letter!"</p> + +<p>"Well, what are you doing?"</p> + +<p>"I'm carving my name in the corner here, just below my father's."</p> + +<p>Roy looked with curiosity at Dudley's handiwork.</p> + +<p>"Yes, your M is very crooked; but I wouldn't choose to write my name on +the wainscoting. It's too low down. I like to be at the top of +everything. Now if you carved it on the ceiling that would be something +like!"</p> + +<p>"You're always wanting to do impossibilities!"</p> + +<p>"I should like to have a try at them," rejoined Roy, quickly. "I hate +everything that is easy. Now come on, do! and we'll have a good gallop +over the down!"</p> + +<p>Half an hour later and the boys were tearing through the village on +their ponies, and were soon out on an open expanse of heather and grass.</p> + +<p>Roy was in the midst of an eloquent harangue on all he was going to do +when he was grown up, when Dudley suddenly came to a standstill.</p> + +<p>"Something is the matter with Hazel. I believe she's going lame. Oh, I +see, one of her shoes is loose! Now what are we to do!"</p> + +<p>He sprang off his pony as he spoke, and looked perplexed at this +calamity.</p> + +<p>"Lead her on gently," was Roy's ready advice. "We aren't far off from +C----, and I know there's a blacksmith there."</p> + +<p>Dudley grumbled a little at having his ride spoiled in this fashion; but +it was not long before they reached the neighboring village, and the +smith's forge was soon found.</p> + +<p>Then, whilst Hazel was being attended to, Roy suggested that they +should go and see an old lady, a great friend of their aunt's, who lived +just outside the village.</p> + +<p>"She might ask us to tea," suggested Roy, "and she has awfully nice cake +always going. I'll leave my pony here, and we'll call again for them on +our way back."</p> + +<p>"I don't like paying visits," objected Dudley, a little crossly.</p> + +<p>"But Mrs. Ford isn't half bad to talk to, she's full of stories."</p> + +<p>And by dint of these two baits, "cake" and "stories," Dudley's shyness +was overcome, and the two boys were soon walking up a sunny little +garden and knocking at the rose-covered door of "Clematis Cottage."</p> + +<p>It was a tiny house, but spotlessly clean and tidy, and the long, low, +dainty drawing-room into which they were shown had a sense of rest and +repose which insensibly affected even the boys' restless spirits.</p> + +<p>"A nice room to be ill in," was Roy's comment; "there would be such a +lot of jolly pictures and things to look at on the walls when you were +in bed."</p> + +<p>"I should like to sit here on Sunday," said Dudley. "I am sure I could +be still for quite half an hour!"</p> + +<p>The door opened and a little old lady in widow's cap and gown came +forward. She was a fragile, delicate-looking little woman, with a very +bright face and smile, and she beamed upon the boys delightedly.</p> + +<p>"My dear boys, this is quite a treat! I don't often get a visit from +young gentlemen. How is your grandmother? Have you brought me any +message from your aunt?"</p> + +<p>"Granny is not very well to-day," replied Roy, frankly, "and Aunt Judy +didn't know we were coming here. We have been riding, and Dudley's pony +has had to be shod, so we've left him at the blacksmith's and come on +here. You see we thought it would pass the time."</p> + +<p>"And so it will, and you shall have a nice cup of tea before you go +back. Why, what big boys you are growing! Which is the elder? I always +forget."</p> + +<p>"I am," said Roy, a little shamefacedly; "but of course most people +think Dudley is, because he is the biggest."</p> + +<p>"It's only two months and five days, though, between us," put in Dudley, +eagerly, knowing what a sore point his size was to Roy; "and you see, +Mrs. Ford, Roy's brain is much bigger than mine—Mr. Selby says it is, +so that makes us quits!"</p> + +<p>"And I wonder which has the biggest soul?" said Mrs. Ford, quaintly.</p> + +<p>The boys stared at her.</p> + +<p>"Shall I tell you a little story while we are waiting for tea?" she +asked, sitting down in her easy chair by the open window, and looking +first at the boys with loving interest, and then away to the sweet +country outside her garden.</p> + +<p>Roy gave Dudley a delighted nudge with his elbow.</p> + +<p>"Yes, please; we love a good rattling story; and make plenty of +adventures in it, won't you?"</p> + +<p>But Mrs. Ford shook her head with a little smile.</p> + +<p>"I can't tell you of fights with red Indians, and shipwrecks, and lion +hunts, and all such things as that; but you must take my story as it is, +and think over it in your quiet moments.</p> + +<p>"There was once an old garden. Flowers and fruit of every description +grew in it, and when no human creature was about the air was full of +flower laughter and fruit conversation. One day in autumn some saucy +sparrows were teasing a young walnut-tree that stood between an apple +and a pear-tree, opposite a wall which was covered with beautiful golden +plums.</p> + +<p>"'What are you here for?' they said, pecking at the round green balls +that hung on the tree, and then wiping their beaks in disgust on the +grass underneath. 'Ugh! you're sour and bitter and nasty enough to +poison a person! You're a disgrace to your master. The red and yellow +apples next door to you are delicious this warm day, and the pears make +one's mouth fairly water, while as to the plums over there—well, every +one is fighting for them, from the slugs and snails to every bird in the +country, and the boys and girls and men and women—all of us have to be +kept off by those horrible nets which the old gardener is continually +spreading!'</p> + +<p>"'I'm sure,' whispered the young walnuts, humbly, 'we don't mean any +harm. We don't quite know why we are here ourselves. We have been hoping +to see our green skins get red and yellow, and soft and ripe, like +everything else round us, but they seem to get harder and uglier as time +goes by. They feel very heavy, and our stems ache with holding them up; +do you think it just possible there may be something inside?'</p> + +<p>"'Inside!' laughed the sparrows; 'who ever heard of the inside being +better than the outside? You're stuffed with conceit, but nothing else.'</p> + +<p>"And away they flew, for they were not a year old themselves, and knew +nothing about autumn nuts and berries.</p> + +<p>"The walnuts sighed and appealed to an old crow flying by.</p> + +<p>"'Do you think we have been planted in this beautiful garden by +mistake?' they said. 'We have been waiting a long time to give pleasure +and to do good to those around us. The bees give us a wide berth—they +say they can get no honey from us; we have no sweet scent to please the +passer-by, no lovely blossoms to delight their eyes. The apples have had +blossoms and fruit, and all the other trees the same, yet here we hang +and grow, and the days go by and we're only laughed at for our ugliness +and want of sweetness.'</p> + +<p>"'Wait a little longer,' said the old crow; 'wait, and take pains to +grow!'</p> + +<p>"And the walnuts waited, and the sun kissed their hard skins, and the +rain refreshed them when dry and thirsty; and still the sparrows mocked +them, and the apple and pear-tree talked to each other over their heads, +for they too looked upon them as a failure. One day the biggest walnut +broke from his stem and dropped in the long grass. No one heeded his +fall except his brothers; the gardener came by and gathered the apples +and pears, but did not look at the walnut-tree; and when he kicked the +fallen walnut with his feet he took no more notice of it than if it had +been a pebble.</p> + +<p>"'Is that our fate?' sighed the walnuts. 'Now we know we are no good. +What is the use of trying to grow? What is the good of living at all +when we're so ugly and useless, and the end of us is to lie and rot in +the grass and be kicked by every one who passes?'</p> + +<p>"And they wept bitter tears of disappointment and mortification; and one +by one they dropped from the tree and lay unheeded, uncared for on the +ground below.</p> + +<p>"Then one morning came up the old crow.</p> + +<p>"'Why did you tell us to wait?' cried one walnut in petulant tones. +'We're rotting, dying here, and this is the end of us.'</p> + +<p>"'Wait a little longer,' said the crow again; 'it is when we are very +low that we are lifted very high. When we come to an end a new beginning +is coming.'</p> + +<p>"The walnuts sighed as he flew away; yet the biggest one turned with a +spark of hope to his brothers.</p> + +<p>"'I do believe we have been made for something. My skin is rotting and +dying, but in spite of it all I feel as if I have something inside that +is still alive. Let us wait and be patient a little longer.'</p> + +<p>"And then at last one day, when the apple and pear-tree were fruitless +and leafless, when the flowers and butterflies and bees had all +disappeared, down the garden came the master himself and the gardener.</p> + +<p>"He stopped when he came to the walnut-tree, and stooping down in the +long grass he gently raised one of the fallen nuts.</p> + +<p>"'You must gather these in,' he said to his gardener; 'we have a good +many for the first year.'</p> + +<p>"'Yes,' said the gardener, 'they are ready now. I've let them lie till +you saw them.'</p> + +<p>"And the walnuts whispered to themselves in surprised delight that it +was not neglect and indifference had left them there, but that the +gardener had watched each one fall, and knew where to find them when +their time came at last.</p> + +<p>"And when their green husks were removed, and their brown shells cracked +at the master's table, they discovered that the most valuable part of +them was what could not be seen by outsiders, and could only be brought +to light by the master's hand."</p> + +<p>"That's a kind of parable," said Roy when Mrs. Ford ceased speaking.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said, smiling; "most people are like the sparrows: they think +it is only the outside you should go by. Now, when I see a person for +the first time I always wonder what their soul is like. If that is +beautiful it doesn't matter about their body. And a little body may +contain a very big soul."</p> + +<p>"Can we make our souls big?" asked Roy, with an anxious face.</p> + +<p>"They should be growing, my boy, day by day. Put them into the +Gardener's keeping and He will make them grow. It isn't the handsome and +the strong who do all the good in the world; very often it is just the +other way."</p> + +<p>"Then there is hope I may do something," said Roy, brightening up; "I +like that story about the walnuts, don't you, Dudley?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'll think of it when I crack them next," said Dudley.</p> + +<p>Tea was now brought in, and the boys did it full justice, and shortly +after they were on their homeward way.</p> + +<p>"She's a jolly old thing," remarked Dudley, presently, "and her cake was +awfully good. I'm glad we went to see her."</p> + +<p>Roy was unusually silent. Dudley continued—</p> + +<p>"I expect you've got the biggest soul of us too, Roy; nurse is always +saying your soul is too big for your body."</p> + +<p>"I wish I had no body sometimes," said Roy, with a sigh; "it gets so +tired and stupid."</p> + +<p>"Well, we won't talk about souls and bodies any more," Dudley said, +quickly, "they aren't interesting. I say, do you think we could teach +Rob cricket?"</p> + +<p>Rob was a topic which always interested Roy. He brightened up at once.</p> + +<p>"We'll teach him everything," he said, eagerly. "I want him to be able +to read and write and play, and do everything that we do, and more +besides, for I shall have him for my friend as well as a servant when I +grow up."</p> + +<p>"A funny kind of chap for a friend," said Dudley, a little crossly; +"he's twice as old as you are, to begin with, and he's an awfully +stupid, thick-headed fellow."</p> + +<p>"Don't you like Rob?"</p> + +<p>Roy's tone was an astonished one.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I like him well enough, but I'm getting rather sick of hearing you +crack him up so."</p> + +<p>Roy changed the subject. He wondered sometimes why Dudley seemed to lose +his temper so over Rob; it never entered his head that Dudley might +regard him as a possible rival; that Rob, the country lad, might spoil +the covenant of friendship between them.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="VIII"></a><h2>VIII</h2> +<br> + +<p>THE BERTRAMS' LEAP</p> + +<p>It was Roy's birthday, and he was standing at his bedroom window before +breakfast looking out into the old garden below, his busy brain full of +thought and conjecture. His birthday was a very important day to him, +and for some years now there had been a settled programme for the day. +His guardian, an old Indian officer living in the neighborhood, and +formerly a very old friend of his father's, always came over to see him +and stayed to lunch, the two boys joining their elders at that meal. +Directly after, they would drive or ride over to Norrington Court which +was Roy's future home, and stay there for the rest of the day.</p> + +<p>The boy's heart was full of the future as usual, and when Dudley burst +into his room with a radiant face to offer his good wishes, he turned to +meet him gravely.</p> + +<p>But Dudley was too occupied in tugging in a small basket to notice it.</p> + +<p>"This is my present, old chap. Just open it and see if you don't like +it."</p> + +<p>Roy's little face became illumined with smiles a moment after, when he +saw two beautiful little white mice amongst the straw looking up at him +with calm curiosity out of their bright beady eyes.</p> + +<p>"They're tame," said Dudley, delightedly; "old Principle has had them, +taming them for over a month. Their names are Nibble and Dibble. Look! +This is Dibble with the little black spot on his nose. You never +guessed, did you? I've been down to see them lots of times and they'll +eat food out of my hand. You just see!"</p> + +<p>Roy was too excited over his mice to eat much breakfast, and when Rob +came up to him immediately afterward with a new cricket ball, bought out +of his small wages, he declared he was the "luckiest fellow in the +world."</p> + +<p>Miss Bertram presented him with a handsome writing case, and every one +of the servants had some trifle to offer him. At ten o'clock he went to +his grandmother's room.</p> + +<p>This was also part of the programme.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Bertram received him very impressively, as was her wont.</p> + +<p>"Sit down, Fitz Roy; you are getting a big boy; have you been measured +this morning?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, granny, and I really have grown an inch and a half since last +year. That isn't very bad, is it?"</p> + +<p>"Your father was very much taller at your age. I cannot understand it."</p> + +<p>Roy began to feel rather depressed. "General Newton will be here soon, +I suppose," continued Mrs. Bertram, precisely, "and I wish you to convey +him a message from me. Give him my very kind regards, and ask him to +excuse me from coming down to see him this morning. I have had a very +bad night, and am not feeling fit for any extra fatigue. I hope he will +find you improved in manners and appearance. I could wish you talked and +laughed less and thought more. You must endeavor to realize your +responsibilities when you visit Norrington Court this afternoon. It is a +very large and important property for a little boy like you to be heir +to, and I hope you will fill the position worthily when you come of age. +Your uncle was the most respected and honored man in the county, and if +your dear father had lived to come back from Canada, he would have +walked in your uncle's steps."</p> + +<p>"And who will walk in mine when I'm dead, granny?"</p> + +<p>"My dear, you must learn not to interrupt grown-up people when they are +speaking."</p> + +<p>"I'm very sorry, but do tell me if I died before I grew up, would Dudley +have my house?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, by the terms of the will he would, as his father came next in age +to yours."</p> + +<p>"That is what Aunt Judy means, when she calls me Jonathan and says when +I brag, that I must remember my namesake never came to the throne at +all. I like to think that Dudley may have it, he would make a grander +master than me, wouldn't he?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Bertram gave a little sigh. Roy's delicacy was a sore point with +her, and she could never get reconciled to his small stature.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Roy, after a pause; "I'll do my very best, granny, to grow +up a big strong man. I take my tonics now whenever nurse gives them to +me, and I never pour them out of the window as I used to do. And I'm +hoping to do something great before I die, and I'm trying to grow up a +good man. Do you think that will do?" he added, a little anxiously, as +he fancied his grandmother's gaze rested on him with some +dissatisfaction.</p> + +<p>She did not reply, only drew out her purse from her pocket, and Roy knew +this was a signal for his dismissal.</p> + +<p>"Now," said Mrs. Bertram, "this is the sovereign that I usually give +you. I hope you will spend it wisely. Tell me when it is gone what you +have done with it. I hope you will spend a happy day. Give me a kiss and +leave me. Oh, if only you were more like your handsome father!"</p> + +<p>Roy took his gift, thanked her for it, and giving his grandmother a +kiss, left the room very quietly.</p> + +<p>Outside the door he paused on the door-mat, and drew his jacket across +his eyes with a strangled sob.</p> + +<p>"It's a pity God won't make me strong, but I don't seem to be able to do +it myself."</p> + +<p>And then with a shout for Dudley, a minute after he was tearing round +the house, showing his pet mice to all, and chattering away as if he had +not a care upon him.</p> + +<p>General Newton arrived soon after and took a more cheering view of his +ward's appearance than had his grandmother.</p> + +<p>"You'll grow into a splendid fellow yet," he said, patting him on the +shoulder, "and you'll out-top your cousin. Have you been in many scrapes +lately?"</p> + +<p>"They're good boys on the whole," replied Miss Bertram, smiling; "except +when they try to be philanthropists, and then they come to grief."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that's the last idea, is it? When I was here before they were going +to be travelling peddlers. Have you made a choice of any profession yet, +either of you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'm going to be a traveller and discoverer," said Roy, with +decision.</p> + +<p>"Oh, indeed! Then you've still the love for exploration. How is your +friend old Principle? Is he still unearthing wonders and keeping them in +his kettles?"</p> + +<p>"He is busy in a cave now," said Dudley, eagerly; "would you like to +come and see it one day?"</p> + +<p>"No, thank you. And are you lads still devoted friends?"</p> + +<p>"David and Jonathan, still," said Miss Bertram; and the old general +laughed heartily.</p> + +<p>Before he left, he also gave Roy a sovereign, which made the little +fellow confide to Dudley,</p> + +<p>"I've put granny's in my right hand pocket, and the general's in my +left, they won't mix together well, because hers is such a solemn one, +and his is so jolly!"</p> + +<p>It was a happy little party that set off for Norrington Court. The boys +were on their ponies, and Miss Bertram in her pony trap, with Rob +sitting behind, proud in the consciousness of a new suit of clothes, and +delighted at being included in the number.</p> + +<p>Up a long stately avenue of elms and beeches, with bracken and ferns +covering mossy glades in the distance, and then Roy and Dudley flung +themselves off their ponies before an old stone house with ivy-covered +walls and turrets. Everything had been brightened up for their visit. +The flowers on the terraces were one mass of sweet perfume and color, +the drives weeded and rolled, and the velvet turf in only such a +condition as centuries of care can make it. The old housekeeper opened +the door in her very best black silk, and two or three more faithful +retainers stood in the background.</p> + +<p>Roy spoke to them all with boyish frankness and grace, and then eagerly +demanded if tea might be on the terrace. Miss Bertram agreed and while +she went indoors for a chat with the housekeeper, the boys tore round +the place dragging Rob after them. The stables of course were visited, +and an old groom who had known the boys' fathers when boys, welcomed +them with great warmth.</p> + +<p>"Ye must grow quicker, Master Fitz Roy. We want to see you here among +us. I'm looking to see all these stalls occupied by hunters and sich +like again. 'Tis mournful work to live year in and year out with only +two bosses for company!"</p> + +<p>"Tell us about the old times, Ben, do!"</p> + +<p>Ben sat down and spread his hands out on his knees reflectively.</p> + +<p>"All the young gentlemen were born riders," he said, slowly; "I mind how +Master Randolph would tear up the avenue after a long ride. 'There, Ben' +he'd say to me, chucking me the rein, and jumpin' off as light as a +feather, 'we've worked our spirits h'off—Ruby and me!' When the old +squire were alive, he'd have all three young gentlemen up, and then he'd +mount them and bring them down to Ruddocks stream, and see them jump it. +He used to say, 'No grandson of mine is worth calling a Bertram if he +can't take that leap before he is twelve year old!' They all did it +before they was ten, and he used to stand chuckling and rubbing his +hands as he saw them do it."</p> + +<p>"Is that the stream at the bottom of the back meadow?" asked Dudley, +eagerly; "the one with the hedge in front?"</p> + +<p>"Ay, to be sure!"</p> + +<p>"But we have never jumped it," exclaimed Roy. "And I think we ought to +for we're his great-grandsons."</p> + +<p>"We shan't be twelve for a long time yet," said Dudley, "but we really +ought to try."</p> + +<p>"Well, we'll do it this evening after tea; and you shall come and see us +do it, Ben."</p> + +<p>Ben grinned from ear to ear.</p> + +<p>"You'll go over it like a bird, if so be as your pony is accustomed to +sich things!"</p> + +<p>"We haven't taken very high jumps," admitted Dudley, candidly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, we shall do it," said Roy, with a little toss of his head; "we'll +<i>make</i> them go over!"</p> + +<p>And then they turned to other subjects.</p> + +<p>"What do you think of my house, Rob?" asked Roy, later on as he was +escorting his humble friend through the empty rooms and corridors +upstairs.</p> + +<p>"It'll take a powerful number of people to fill it," said Rob, with awe.</p> + +<p>"I shall have a lot of friends to stay with me, of course, and then I +shall marry; men always do that, don't they?"</p> + +<p>"I b'lieve they mostly does," was the grave reply.</p> + +<p>"And won't you like to come and live with me here?"</p> + +<p>"That I should."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Dudley, from a few paces behind; "if you're going to +travel, you won't use your house much, Roy. If Rob is going to be your +follower, I'll come and live here when you're abroad, and when you come +home, I'll go away."</p> + +<p>"No you won't, you know we shall want you too."</p> + +<p>And seeing the frown on Dudley's face, Roy turned back and linked his +arm in his. "Look here," he added, "Rob shall be your follower as well +as mine, and we will all go out to look for a new country together, and +when we've found it, we will come back and have a jolly time in this old +house."</p> + +<p>"I shall have to work for my living," Dudley replied, gruffly.</p> + +<p>"Yes. I was thinking," and the earnest look came into Roy's eyes as he +spoke; "I was thinking this morning, I mustn't just live as I like to +live when I grow up. There will be an awful lot to be done. Old +Principle was telling me the other day that the reason some people are +overworked is because other people don't work enough, and an idle man +puts his burden of work on other people's backs."</p> + +<p>"We don't want old Principle's sermons here," exclaimed Dudley, having +recovered his good humor. "Aren't you awfully hungry? I'm sure tea must +be ready."</p> + +<p>They went to the terrace where a most elaborate repast was set out, +which they thoroughly enjoyed. After it was over all the servants came +up to drink Roy's health; the old butler Pike made a little speech, and +Roy responded; his words lingering in the memories of those who heard +him for long afterward.</p> + +<p>Miss Bertram, as she looked at his upright, slender little figure, and +noted the intense emphasis with which he spoke, felt a pang go through +her, as she wondered if his frail young life would be cut short before +he reached manhood.</p> + +<p>"I'm awfully much obliged to you all for your good wishes. I'm +determined when I grow up and come to live with you that I'll do all +the good I can to everybody. I hope I'm getting stronger, and I think I +may be able to do as much as other people. But whatever I am, I promise +you I'll do my very best for the property!"</p> + +<p>Then three cheers were given for the little master; and after the +ceremony was over, Miss Bertram told her little nephews to amuse +themselves quietly for another half hour before they returned home.</p> + +<p>Their plans were already arranged, and they went straight to the stables +for their ponies to try the leap the old groom had mentioned to them.</p> + +<p>He had already saddled them, and a few minutes after, they came through +the small paddock in front of the spot.</p> + +<p>It was rather an awkward hedge, though not a very high one with a broad +stream of running water the other side.</p> + +<p>Old Ben began to get a little nervous as he saw the boys eyeing the leap +rather doubtfully.</p> + +<p>"Has the hedge grown since our fathers were little boys?" asked Dudley.</p> + +<p>"A wee bit, perhaps, though we do keep it cut pretty much to the same +level. It's a deal thicker than it used to be, but don't you try it if +you hain't sure of your ponies. It 'ud be a awful thing if you hurt +yourself and couldn't do it!" </p> + +<p><a href="ill095.jpg"><img src="ill095_sm.jpg" alt=""'He's dead, Ben! he's dead!""></a></p> + +<p>"If we try it at all, we shall do it," said Roy, spiritedly, and then +he and Dudley rode back to put their steeds to a gallop.</p> + +<p>Old Ben watched them breathlessly. Dudley seemed to be hesitating.</p> + +<p>"I say, old fellow, don't let us do it to-night."</p> + +<p>Roy's look was one of astonishment mingled with a little contempt.</p> + +<p>"Not do it! Are you afraid?"</p> + +<p>Dudley's color rose. "I'm not afraid of our courage," he said, boldly, +"but of our ponies: they have never been accustomed to it."</p> + +<p>"Then they can learn to-night. Now then, there's plenty of room for us +both abreast. One—two—three—off! Hurrah for the Bertrams!"</p> + +<p>The ponies were fresh, the hedge was cleared; but as old Ben was in the +act of waving his cap aloft to give a cheer—there was a crash—a sharp +cry—and a sickening thud the other side of the hedge. And when the old +groom with beating heart and trembling limbs, reached the farther bank, +Roy and his horse were prostrate on the ground. Dudley had cleared it +safely, and now having flung himself from his horse was leaning over Roy +in agony of terror.</p> + +<p>"He's dead, Ben—he's dead—his pony rolled over him—oh, fetch a +doctor, quick!"</p> + +<p>Ben took the unconscious little figure in his arms, with a heavy groan; +and Dudley tore on to the house almost frantic with fright.</p> + +<p>Every one was in confusion at once, but it was Rob who tore off for the +doctor, and brought him in an incredibly short time, considering that he +lived three miles away.</p> + +<p>To Dudley, listening outside the bedroom door, it seemed years before +the doctor came out, and when he did, he was too overcome to speak to +him. But seeing the white unnerved face of the boy, Doctor Grant put his +hand kindly on his shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Cheer up, my boy, it might have been worse—he is only stunned, and leg +broken. I hope he will pull round again."</p> + +<p>And then Dudley burst into a passionate fit of tears, with relief at the +doctor's words.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="IX"></a><h2>IX</h2> +<br> + +<p>MAKING HIS WILL</p> + +<p>It was long before the cousins met; Roy's delicate constitution had +received such a shock that his condition for some time was a cause of +grave anxiety. His leg did not heal, and then the terrible word was +whispered through the house "amputation"!</p> + +<p>It was a lovely evening in September when after a long talk with the +doctor in the library Miss Bertram came out, her usually determined face +quivering with emotion.</p> + +<p>"I will tell him to-night, Doctor Grant, and we shall be ready for you +to-morrow afternoon at three."</p> + +<p>She went upstairs, and Dudley with scared eyes having heard her speech +now crept out of the house after the doctor.</p> + +<p>"Look here, Doctor Grant," he said, confronting him with an almost +defiant air: "you're not going to make Roy a cripple!"</p> + +<p>"I'm going to save his life, if I can," said the doctor, half sadly, as +he looked down upon the sturdy boy in front of him.</p> + +<p>"He won't live with only one leg, I know he won't, it will be too much +of a disgrace to him; he'll die of grief, I know he will! Oh, Doctor +Grant, you might have pity on him, it isn't fair!"</p> + +<p>"Would you rather see him die in lingering pain?" enquired the doctor, +gravely.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I think it so awful! Why should he be the one to be smashed up. +Look at me! I know everybody thinks it a pity it wasn't me. It would +have made us so much more equal. Why should I be so strong, and he so +weak! I tell you what! I've heard a story about joining on other men's +legs. Now tell me, could you do it? Could you give him one of mine? I'd +let you cut it off this minute—to-night, if you only would. If it would +make him walk straight!"</p> + +<p>Dudley seized hold of the doctor's coat excitedly, and Doctor Grant saw +his whole soul was in his words.</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid that would be an impossible feat, my boy. No—keep your own +legs to wait upon him, and cheer him up all you can."</p> + +<p>"Cheer him up!" was the fierce retort; "what could cheer him! I know he +won't be able to live a cripple. He always says he is straight and +upright though his chest is weak, and now when he knows it's no use +trying to be strong any more, for he'll never be able to—when he knows +he won't be able to play cricket, or football, or even climb the wall or +run races—oh, it's awful—it will break his heart, and I wish I was +dead!" After which passionate speech Dudley dashed away, and the doctor +continued his walk shaking his head and muttering, "It's a bad lookout +for the little fellow!"</p> + +<p>Dudley ran across the lawn in his misery, and then nearly tumbled over +Rob who was lying on the grass, his face hidden in his arms. He looked +up and his eyes were red and swollen.</p> + +<p>"Master Dudley, is it true, is he going to lose his legs?"</p> + +<p>Dudley stood looking at him for a minute before he spoke, and then he +said, "Yes, it's all that hateful doctor!"</p> + +<p>Rob dropped his head on his arms again and a smothered groan escaped +him.</p> + +<p>Dudley continued his run out into the stableyard, from thence to the +road, and he never stopped till he reached old Principle's little +three-cornered shop.</p> + +<p>Old Principle was busy serving customers when he came in; he gave him a +friendly nod, and went on with his business whilst Dudley crept into the +little back parlor, and sitting down in an old horsehair chair tried to +recover his breath. It was not long before old Principle came after him.</p> + +<p>"Well, my laddie," he said, laying his hand on the curly head, "there's +sad news going through the village this morning, and I see by your face +that 'tis true!"</p> + +<p>Dudley nodded and then seizing hold of the old man's hand, leaned his +head against it and burst into tears.</p> + +<p>"Why does God do it!" he sobbed at length, "Roy is so much better than I +am, he's always trying to please God, though he never talks about it, +and I've prayed so hard that he might be made quite well!"</p> + +<p>"Ay, and the good Lord is making him well perhaps though not by the way +you planned. He might a been killed outright, and then what a trouble +you'd have been in."</p> + +<p>"This is nearly as bad," muttered Dudley.</p> + +<p>"Now, laddie, don't harden your heart, are you one of the Lord's own +children?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know. I don't think I love God as much as Roy does."</p> + +<p>"'Tis an awful bad principle," the old man continued, "to doubt and +complain directly we can't understand the Almighty's dealings with us. +He loves Master Roy better'n you and me, and the time will come when +we'll thank the Lord with all our hearts for this accident."</p> + +<p>This was utterly incomprehensible to Dudley.</p> + +<p>"I feel very badly about it," old Principle went on, "and so do you, +but the one I'm most sorry for is Ben Burkstone. I hear say he's fit to +kill himself with despair!"</p> + +<p>"Well," said Dudley, stopping his sobs for a minute; "I don't see it was +his fault; it was the stupid pony; he funked it, and then fell and broke +his knees; mine went over all right. Oh, why didn't it happen to me! If +I had been spilled, I wouldn't have minded, and one leg wouldn't have +been half so bad to me as to Roy!"</p> + +<p>"I reckon you'd have got your leg all right again without having to lose +it. 'Tis the laddie's delicate constitution that is so in his way. But I +think you'll find Master Roy as plucky over the loss of his leg as he +ever was. Now lift your heart up to God and ask Him that he may overrule +it all for good. There goes the shop-bell!"</p> + +<p>Old Principle disappeared, and Dudley soothed and comforted by his +sympathy, retraced his steps to the house.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Miss Bertram had been going through the trying ordeal of +breaking the news to the little invalid.</p> + +<p>Roy was lying in bed, flushed and restless. His eyes looked unnaturally +large and bright, as he met his aunt's anxious gaze.</p> + +<p>"I'm so tired of pain, Aunt Judy, and I can't get to sleep."</p> + +<p>Miss Bertram sat down and smiled her brightest smile.</p> + +<p>Taking his thin little hand in hers she said tenderly,</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear, you've been a brave little patient, but I hope you won't +have much more to bear. You would like to be free from it, wouldn't +you?"</p> + +<p>"Am I going to die?"</p> + +<p>"We hope you're going to get quite well again, if God wills, and if you +will be a good boy and let the doctor cure you."</p> + +<p>Roy's eyes were fixed intently on his aunt now.</p> + +<p>"How are they going to cure me?"</p> + +<p>Then Miss Bertram nerved herself for the occasion.</p> + +<p>"Roy, dear, you have been so patient since you lay here, that I know you +will be patient over this. Doctor Grant says that your leg will never +heal as it is, but he is sure you will get well and strong again if—if +you will make up your mind to do without it."</p> + +<p>"Does that mean he is going to cut it off?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>Dead silence, broken only by the flapping of the window-curtains in the +breeze. Roy was not looking at his aunt now, but his eyes were fixed on +the distant hills through the open window. A blackbird now hovering on +some jasmine outside, suddenly lifted up his voice and burst into an +exultant song. A faint smile flickered about Roy's lips.</p> + +<p>"Do legs <i>never</i> grow again like teeth?"</p> + +<p>The pathos of tone saved Miss Bertram from smiling at the comicality of +the question.</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid not, dear. Not until we reach heaven."</p> + +<p>Then there was silence again, broken at last by Roy's saying in a very +quiet tone,—</p> + +<p>"I want to see Dudley."</p> + +<p>Miss Bertram rose from her seat, but first she stooped to kiss him.</p> + +<p>"You are quite a little hero," she said; "I will send David to you. My +poor little Jonathan!"</p> + +<p>A hot tear splashed on Roy's forehead; he put up his hand and stroked +his aunt's face.</p> + +<p>"Never mind, Aunt Judy, David made a better king than Jonathan would +have I expect. Don't call Dudley just yet—I—I want to be alone."</p> + +<p>Miss Bertram left him, but sat down outside his door on a broad window +ledge and cried like a child.</p> + +<p>And then a short time after, Dudley stole softly into the room and Roy's +arms were clinging round his neck.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Dudley, I've wanted you, kiss me!"</p> + +<p>"You're going to get well, old chap, aren't you? You'll soon be out in +the garden again."</p> + +<p>Dudley was speaking in the gruff quick tones he used when trying to hide +his feelings.</p> + +<p>"We'll talk about that presently," said Roy, lying back on his pillows +and making Dudley take a seat on his bed. "Dudley, do you know what a +will is?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; you've a strong will nurse always says."</p> + +<p>"No, not that kind of one. Uncle James left a will when he died saying +he left Norrington Court to father, and father left it to me. It's a +piece of thick paper they write it down on, and it has some sealing wax +on it. Aunt Judy showed me father's will once."</p> + +<p>Dudley did not look enlightened, so Roy went on,—</p> + +<p>"I want you to get a piece of paper and write down my will for me. I +will tell you what to say."</p> + +<p>Dudley slipped out of the room obediently and returned with a sheet of +note paper, but this did not satisfy Roy. "It must be a large +sheet—very large," was his command.</p> + +<p>After some minutes' search Dudley came in with a sheet of foolscap, and +then with pen and ink he began to write at Roy's dictation:</p> + +<p>"When I am dead"—</p> + +<p>But Dudley's pen stopped. "You are not going to die, Roy?"</p> + +<p>"I hope I am," was the unexpected reply; "I've been asking God to make +me. I shouldn't think many people lived after their legs were cut off: I +know I don't want to!"</p> + +<p>"But I want you to live," cried poor Dudley; "oh! Roy you couldn't be so +mean as to leave me all alone. Oh, do unsay that prayer of yours. You +mustn't die!"</p> + +<p>"I'm going to get quite ready to die," persisted Roy; "and if you really +loved me you wouldn't think of liking to see me alive hopping about on a +wooden leg, I couldn't do it."</p> + +<p>"Nelson lived with only one arm," said Dudley.</p> + +<p>Roy lay back on his pillows to consider this; then he said in a tired +voice:</p> + +<p>"Will you write what I want?"</p> + +<p>Dudley seized the pen and in round, childish hand wrote as follows:</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"When I am dead, Dudley is to have Norrington</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Court for his very own, and he is to</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">live there instead of me. He can have Dibble</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">and Nibble too. Rob is to have my musical</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">box. I leave him my best tool box, and father's</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">red silk pocket-handkerchief which I</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">keep in the old tobacco pot on my chimneypiece.</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">I leave granny her sovereign which</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">she gave me, and my book 'Heroes of old</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">England.' Aunt Judy is to have my best</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">four-bladed knife, and my prayer book. I</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">want old Principle to have my silver mug and</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">my new writing case. I leave nurse the sovereign</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">my guardian gave me to get herself some</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">new shoes, and I leave her my Bible."</span><br> + +<p>Thus far; then Roy gave a tired sigh. Dudley having entered completely +into the spirit of the thing looked up and said eagerly, "There's your +telescope, you know, Roy! If you leave it to me, I'll let you look +through it when we're off on our travels."</p> + +<p>"I shall never travel with no legs—besides I shall be dead. I'll leave +my telescope to you."</p> + +<p>Dudley subsided at once; then after a silence he asked meekly, "Is that +enough?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'm so tired, put—'I leave all my old clothes to the village +boys, and my cricket bat and stumps to Ben'—but wait a minute, +Dudley—there are all the servants, and I've got such heaps of books and +toys—I think we'll leave it like that."</p> + +<p>Dudley looked at his paper with some pride.</p> + +<p>"I've only made six mistakes and three blots," he said; "now may I drop +the sealing wax over it? I've got a lovely red piece in my pocket."</p> + +<p>"I think I have to write my name at the bottom first, I know father did. +Give me the pen."</p> + +<p>Dudley handed it, and wondered why Roy's fingers shook so as he signed +his name.</p> + +<p>"Is that all?"</p> + +<p>"No, wait a moment. I want to write something myself."</p> + +<p>And then in a large scrawl at the bottom of the paper Roy wrote—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"This boy died before he had time to serve</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">the Queen, he tried to serve God, and he tried</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">to do good to some people, only they turned</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">out mistakes. He hopes the Queen will forgive</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">him; he knows God will. Amen."</span><br> + +<p>Dudley read this with awe.</p> + +<p>"And is that a will?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes, let me drop some sealing wax; fetch a candle!"</p> + +<p>Dudley was longing to do this part himself, but he generously said +nothing, and presented Roy with a brass button out of his pocket, to +stamp on the hot wax.</p> + +<p>A lot of sealing wax was dropped indiscriminately all over the paper, +and then old nurse appeared on the scene to order Dudley off.</p> + +<p>"You've been far too long with him already, to my mind," she said; "if +Miss Bertram wasn't beside herself she would never have given you +permission at all; he ought to have been kept extra quiet, and he's +worked himself all in a fever again." She put Roy gently back on his +pillows, and did not notice in her short-sightedness the roll of paper +being stuffed under his pillow. Dudley's spirits sank to zero, now he +was about to be dismissed.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, Roy, ask to see me again, won't you?"</p> + +<p>Roy held out his hand.</p> + +<p>"I'll talk about it to-morrow," he said, faintly.</p> + +<p>And Dudley crept out of the room feeling more forlorn and wretched than +ever.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="X"></a><h2>X</h2> +<br> + +<p>A CRIPPLE</p> + +<p>It was all over; two doctors had been closetted in the bedroom for a +very long time, and then Dudley and Rob, sitting on the garden steps, +were told that everything had been successfully carried out, and Roy was +as well and better than had been expected.</p> + +<p>"I never saw such fortitude and calm self-control in my life," said Miss +Bertram to her mother; "it was unnatural for a child of his age!"</p> + +<p>"He is a true Bertram in spirit," said the grandmother, proudly; then +she added with a sigh, "but, alas, not in body."</p> + +<p>"Nurse," said Dudley that night as he was creeping into bed under her +charge; "is Roy going to die?"</p> + +<p>"I hope not," answered nurse, a little tearfully. "Doctor Grant says +he'll make a good recovery, but he whispered himself to me—Master Roy +did just before he took the sleeping draught—'Nurse I'll have my leg +buried with me!' he says."</p> + +<p>Dudley was silent for a minute, then he asked, solemnly, "And where is +it, nurse?"</p> + +<p>Nurse turned upon him tearfully and angrily,</p> + +<p>"I believe as how you haven't one speck of feeling for that blessed +darling, you naughty boy! To talk of such a thing in such a way with not +a tear on your face! And to think of him laying there a helpless +cripple, and him the owner of the biggest estate in the county!"</p> + +<p>Dudley crept into bed feeling he had no more tears to shed, wondering +when he would be allowed to see Roy again, and also wondering who was +the possessor of his lost leg.</p> + +<p>It was a fortnight before he was allowed to see the little invalid, and +when the boys met, Dudley gazed with deep pity on Roy's white little +face, looking smaller and whiter than ever. But he welcomed him with a +smile.</p> + +<p>"It's years since you were here, old chap."</p> + +<p>"Yes," responded Dudley, "and it's been the most miserablest years of my +life."</p> + +<p>"I thought I was going to die then," continued Roy, with still the same +smile; "but God wouldn't let me. He was determined I should live, and do +you know I've been thinking it out. I really believe it is because He is +going to let me do something great still. And Doctor Grant has been +telling me of a man in Parliament who took all the house by storm, and +brought in a most wonderful law that thousands of people blessed him +for, and he—he had a cork leg!"</p> + +<p>Certainly Roy had not lost his buoyancy of spirits. Dudley drew a deep +breath of relief, and for the first time began to see brighter times +ahead.</p> + +<p>"And I'm going to have a cork leg," went on Roy, "a leg that if I press +a spring I can kick out. Think of that!"</p> + +<p>Dudley looked beaming, exclaiming,—</p> + +<p>"And it will be very convenient to have a leg with no feeling, won't it, +especially about the knee when you're crawling along a wall with broken +bottles."</p> + +<p>"I'm going to see Rob to-morrow," announced Roy, after a little more +conversation. "Has he learned to read while I have been ill?"</p> + +<p>Dudley shook his head.</p> + +<p>"No, we tried one afternoon on the wall, but we were too miserable, so +we stopped."</p> + +<p>"Well, I can teach him here in bed. That's one thing you don't want a +leg to do!"</p> + +<p>"I say, Roy," Dudley asked, very cautiously; "don't you feel very funny +without it?"</p> + +<p>Roy looked away for a minute without answering, and then he said slowly:</p> + +<p>"I try and not think about it. It will be worse when I get up—people +might think when they see me in bed that I'm all right, but they'll know +the truth when I'm up."</p> + +<p>Then he added more cheerfully, "It's awfully queer, but do you know I'd +never know it wasn't there as far as the feeling goes. Why I can feel +the pain right down to my toes now. And at night I'm always dreaming I'm +running races with you as fast as I can, and then I wake and can't +believe I'll never run again."</p> + +<p>As Roy grew stronger he had more visitors; Rob came to him every day for +a reading lesson, and old Principle brought him books and sweets. Ben +was allowed an interview, and the old groom, with tears running down his +cheeks, besought Roy to forgive him.</p> + +<p>"I never ought to allowed you, and 'twas me that egged you on and sent +you to your death!"</p> + +<p>"No, it was my own fault, Ben," said Roy, humbly, "and the thing that +pains me most—more than breaking my leg—is to think that I should be +the first Bertram who has failed. Dudley did it, and I didn't, and of +course I shall never be able to try it again. Perhaps I was too proud of +what I could do. We have a picture in the nursery of a boy standing on +the top of a bridge, and then tumbling in the water; it's called 'Pride +must have a fall.' I've had a fall, haven't I, Ben?"</p> + +<p>Ben came out from that interview declaring that "Master Roy ought to be +sainted!"</p> + +<p>One afternoon Rob was finishing his reading lesson when he looked up +and said, a little shyly,</p> + +<p>"Master Roy, you mind what you were a telling me of once—about what +your father told you. Do you think as how I could do it too?"</p> + +<p>"Of course you could, Rob. All of us ought to serve God."</p> + +<p>"I've been thinking a deal about it, and I should like to, if I knew +how."</p> + +<p>"Well, the Bible tells you. I remember nurse made me learn a text a long +time ago, 'If any man serve me let him follow me.' It's just following +Jesus I suppose, and doing what He wants us to do."</p> + +<p>"How can we follow somebody we can't see?"</p> + +<p>Roy knitted his brows. Rob's questions were hard to answer sometimes, +and then a smile flashed across his face.</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you. It's like this. On my birthday granny called me in to +give me a birthday talk and, of course, she talked to me about my +property. She said my uncle had managed it awfully well over there, and +she hoped I would walk in his steps. That would be following him though +he was dead, wouldn't it?"</p> + +<p>"Ye-es," was the slow response.</p> + +<p>"And so you see," Roy replied, leaning forward impressively, and his +eyes glistening with earnestness, "we can each follow Jesus. Try and +live as He did, and do and speak like Him. We read how He lived in the +New Testament."</p> + +<p>"And He was the one that died for us," Rob said, reflectively.</p> + +<p>"Yes, He is the one you go to, to get your sins washed away. That comes +first before we begin to serve Him."</p> + +<p>"But I never could serve Him proper, always," objected Rob.</p> + +<p>"No, nor more can any one. I'm awful, you know! Dudley says I think such +a lot of myself. And of course Jesus never did. And I grumble and cry +over my leg every day, and of course He wouldn't have done it. But Jesus +forgives us again and again, and helps us to be good, and that's why we +love Him, and because He died for us."</p> + +<p>"Would He forgive me, and help me?" asked Rob; "are you quite sure He +would care to have me for a servant?"</p> + +<p>"Of course I'm sure. He wants everybody. You just ask Him."</p> + +<p>Rob said no more. He was a lad of few words, and for some days did not +touch on the subject again. His reading was progressing rapidly, and +when Roy and Dudley found out that his birthday was near they laid their +heads together and presented him with a handsome Bible, as they knew he +was saving up his pennies to buy one.</p> + +<p>His gratitude and delight overwhelmed them, and every day now, when his +work was finished, he would sit down and spell out chapters of the +gospels to himself.</p> + +<p>As the days began to shorten, Roy grew so much stronger that he was able +to be carried downstairs, and the first evening he was in the +drawing-room, he asked Miss Bertram for the song of the two little +drummer boys.</p> + +<p>She sat down at the piano, and Dudley seeing Rob weeding a flower bed +outside the open window, beckoned to him to come up closer and listen.</p> + +<p>"It's the best song out," he shouted.</p> + +<p>Roy's face shone as Miss Bertram's sweet voice rang out triumphantly.</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">—"'the fight was won, and the regiment saved</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">By those two little dots in red!'"</span><br> + +<p>"Oh, how I wish I could be a soldier!" was the muttered exclamation of +Roy, "I shall never be able to serve the Queen now!"</p> + +<p>"Nonsense," said Miss Bertram, briskly; "granny would tell you 'that all +the Bertrams have always served the Queen, and only a few of them have +been soldiers!'"</p> + +<p>"Well, I suppose they have been sailors?" said Dudley.</p> + +<p>"Not at all; we have only had one admiral, and three naval captains in +our family during the last hundred years. Your father, Dudley, served +the Queen as a governor in India quite as well as if he were fighting +for her. Roy's father was her servant in Canada, though he had to do +with politics; your uncle James served as a member of Parliament. The +Queen has numbers of servants. I always think policemen are quite as +brave as soldiers!"</p> + +<p>"And what can a one-legged Bertram do?" Roy asked, with a pathetic smile +that went straight to his aunt's heart.</p> + +<p>"There's no reason why he shouldn't go into Parliament, and perhaps end +by being a member of the cabinet."</p> + +<p>"I never quite understand what that is," said Roy, contemplatively. "I +don't think I should like to be shut up in a stuffy cupboard. They shut +them up in it to talk, don't they, Aunt Judy?"</p> + +<p>How Miss Bertram laughed! But whilst she was explaining what a cabinet +was, Rob crept away from the window muttering, "I suppose as how I could +be a policeman, but I'd a deal rather be a soldier!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="XI"></a><h2>XI</h2> +<br> + +<p>A GIFT TO THE QUEEN</p> + +<p>"Can I see Master Roy, please?"</p> + +<p>It was Rob who spoke, and he seemed breathless with haste and +importance, as he stood at the front door one cold afternoon the end of +October.</p> + +<p>"You can give me your message," the young footman said, rather +superciliously.</p> + +<p>"No, I can't," was the blunt retort; "ask Master Roy to speak to me."</p> + +<p>Rob gained his point, and was ushered into the library where Roy and +Dudley were amusing themselves in the firelight.</p> + +<p>The old nursery was not much used now, and the library had begun to be +considered the boys' room, partly because owing to it being on the +ground floor, and opening into the garden, it was more convenient for +Roy's use.</p> + +<p>Roy was now the possessor of a cork leg; and with the help of a stick he +was nearly as active as ever. His spirits were as high, and his purposes +as plentiful as before his illness; and his grandmother and aunt +marvelled that he could take his deformity so lightly. Yet there were +times unknown to any, when Roy's brave little heart sank with the +consciousness of it; and often in bed at night his pillow would be wet +with tears.</p> + +<p>"Oh, God," he would often pray, "you wouldn't let me die, do help me to +do something worth living for. I feel my leg will keep away all the +opportunities now, but please give me something big to do for you +still."</p> + +<p>"Hulloo, Rob, come on," was Roy's exclamation as he caught sight of his +friend. "Just look at Nibble and Dibble, we're teaching them to draw a +cart. It makes you die of laughing to look at them. There they go, and +Dibble turns head over heels in his excitement!"</p> + +<p>Roy's happy laugh rang out, but though Dudley joined him, Rob's face was +grave and set.</p> + +<p>"Please, can I speak to you on business, Master Roy?"</p> + +<p>"Goody! What a long face!" exclaimed Dudley, pulling down his own in +imitation of Rob's, and thereby causing a fresh peal of laughter from +Roy. "Have you been a naughty boy, Rob, and has old Hal been thrashing +you? Have you been skylarking on the top of the greenhouse, and smashed +through on Hal's pate?"</p> + +<p>"I should like to speak to Master Roy, alone," said Rob, a little +wistfully; in no way disturbed by Dudley's teasing.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's one of your secrets again. I'll be off, Roy, I want to see old +Principle!"</p> + +<p>And Dudley dashed out of the room, whilst Rob came nearer and began his +"business."</p> + +<p>"Master Roy, I've been thinking a lot lately, and Miss Bertram asked me +the other day if I'd like any other job for the winter as there's hardly +enough work for me in the garden now. And yesterday I saw a chap in the +village I used to know. He's a recruiting sergeant for the ----shire +regiment, and he wants me to enlist straight away. I wouldn't have given +it a thought only what you said about serving the Queen has stuck to me, +and it does seem a chance, and somehow that song has been in my head +ever since I heard Miss Bertram sing it. I'd like to be in a regiment."</p> + +<p>Rob paused for breath, and Roy's eyes were wide open with wonder and +astonishment.</p> + +<p>"But, Rob, you aren't old enough to be a soldier yet!"</p> + +<p>"I'm just the age—they take them at eighteen, and I was that the other +day, only I don't look it."</p> + +<p>"But you're going to be my servant. I couldn't let you go."</p> + +<p>Rob's face fell.</p> + +<p>"I thought I could have seven years—or even twelve years would hardly +find you ready to take up your property. And then I'd come back to you +and never leave you again!"</p> + +<p>"But I want you with me now—always"—said Roy, in a distressed tone; "I +couldn't do without you all that time, and it's horrid of you to want to +get away from here, I think."</p> + +<p>"All right, Master Roy, I won't go—I'll get a job in the village that +will keep me close at hand."</p> + +<p>Rob tried to speak cheerfully, and after waiting a minute to see if Roy +would say any more, he left the room quietly; all the light having died +out of his honest grey eyes.</p> + +<p>Roy watched the antics of his mice in the firelight, but his thoughts +were far away from them. At last he opened the door and made his way up +to his grandmother's room to have his usual chat with her before tea.</p> + +<p>"Granny, if a person you like will do anything you like, ought you to +make that person do what you like instead of what they like?"</p> + +<p>"It sounds like a riddle," said Mrs. Bertram, with a smile. "I won't ask +who the person is, the question is whether you like that person or +yourself best. Which do you?"</p> + +<p>Roy did not answer for a minute, then he hung his head.</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid I like myself best."</p> + +<p>"If you give me more details, perhaps I can advise you."</p> + +<p>"Well, granny, may I talk first to Dudley about it, and then I'll tell +you. But you see it's like this—the person wants to please you, and you +can't pretend to be pleased if he does what doesn't please you!"</p> + +<p>"I think the best plan would be to leave yourself out of the question +entirely, and only think of the other person; that would be the most +unselfish way."</p> + +<p>Roy knitted his brows and heaved a heavy sigh.</p> + +<p>"Am I a very selfish person, granny?"</p> + +<p>"You are much more selfish than Dudley is," said Mrs. Bertram, +decidedly, who never minced matters with her grandsons.</p> + +<p>Roy flushed a deep crimson, and his grandmother added,</p> + +<p>"I do not say that you are altogether to blame, for Dudley has always +given way to you and spoiled you; but you do not very often think of his +wishes before your own."</p> + +<p>"No, I never do."</p> + +<p>Roy's tone was of the deepest dejection; but the sudden entrance of +Dudley gave a turn to the conversation, and he gradually recovered his +spirits.</p> + +<p>When the two boys were at their tea half an hour later, Roy spread the +whole matter before Dudley who looked at it in quite a different light.</p> + +<p>"How stunning! And is he really going? Hurray! One of us will be a +soldier, at any rate. I wish I was big enough to go with him."</p> + +<p>"But I don't want him to go, and I told him so, and he isn't going!"</p> + +<p>Dudley opened his eyes at this.</p> + +<p>"You going to keep him back? Why you're the one that's always talking +about serving the Queen, and fighting for her!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I should like to, but—but Rob is different. I want him to be with +me."</p> + +<p>"Then you don't care about serving the Queen, if you're going to do her +out of a soldier who might fight for her!"</p> + +<p>This was quite a new aspect of the affair.</p> + +<p>"You think I'm like the dog in the manger? I can't go myself and I don't +want him to. But if you go to a boarding school like Aunt Judy talks of, +and I'm not allowed to go with you, and Rob is gone, I shall be left all +alone; and I hate being alone, you don't know how I hate it—I think I +should die!"</p> + +<p>"Well, if I was you and knew I couldn't be a soldier myself, I would +love to send some one instead of me—you know how they do in France. Old +Selby was telling us. They pay a subsidy—substitute—don't you call +it?—to go and fight for them."</p> + +<p>"Yes, that is the coward's way," Roy said, scornfully.</p> + +<p>He paused for a minute, and then his eyes flashed fire.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Dudley, I'll let him go. It's me that's the coward to try and keep +him back! You and I shall send him, and he shall be our substitute, and +when we hear of him doing brave things, we shall feel it's ourselves. +And we'll make him write letters to us and tell us all he is doing—oh, +it will be splendid. How glad I am he has learned to read and write. +Dudley, you just go and fetch him in, will you?"</p> + +<p>Dudley crammed rather a large piece of cake into his mouth, and dashed +out of the room; and a few minutes later dragged in the would-be +soldier.</p> + +<p>"We've settled you can go, Rob," said Roy, with a little of his +masterful air about him; "only you're to go as <i>our</i> soldier. I think if +I had had a good, broad, strong chest and never broke my leg, I should +have enlisted, but you can go instead of me. Are you glad?"</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry to leave you, Master Roy, but I'd dearly like to go."</p> + +<p>"We must tell granny and Aunt Judy, and see what they say first. But I'm +sure they'd like you to go."</p> + +<p>No objection was made. Miss Bertram was rather pleased than otherwise.</p> + +<p>"He will make a good soldier," she said, when talking it over with the +boys; "he is a steady, reliable lad, with not too many ideas of his own, +and implicitly obedient."</p> + +<p>"Is that what makes a good soldier?" asked Roy. "I thought it was dash +and bravery."</p> + +<p>"Dash is a dangerous quality. Steady perseverance is better, Jonathan!"</p> + +<p>The next few days were most exciting ones for the boys. Roy and Rob had +many a long talk together, and very earnest and serious subjects were +touched upon. Rob had little time left to bid his friends farewell, but +he went to old Principle, as a matter of course.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the old man, a little proudly; "all the younger folks going +out in life comes to me for a parting word. They laughs at me and my +principles, but I'm proud of my nickname, and 'tis only right principles +will make a man live right, and they knows it. What can I say to you, +lad, but fear God and honor the Queen and those in authority under her. +Never be afraid of holding to the right and denouncing the wrong, and +may God Almighty take your body and soul in His keeping until we meet +again."</p> + +<p>Rob's last day came, and an hour before his departure, in company with +his friend, the sergeant, he came up to the Manor to bid them all +farewell. Roy had some farewell words with him in the privacy of his +bedroom.</p> + +<p>"We shall miss you awfully," he said, walking up and down the room to +hide his emotion; "and it makes me wish I had your chance. But you'll +remember, Rob, I look to you to be a rattling good soldier, much better +than I should have been, and you'll be sure to do something grand and +brave the very first opportunity, won't you? You must get the Victoria +Cross, of course, and the account of you must be in the newspapers, so +that we can read about you. And I shall pray that God will keep you +safe, Rob. I hope you'll never have an arm or leg shot off, though I +think that would be better than having them cut off. I hope you'll come +back safe and sound. When shall we see you again?"</p> + +<p>"The sergeant told me I should get a month or six weeks' leave this time +next year, Master Roy."</p> + +<p>"A year is a very long time. Rob, if I should die before I grow up, I +want you to promise me that you will be Dudley's servant instead of +mine. He will be master of Norrington Court, then, and I want you to +live there."</p> + +<p>"But you aren't going to die, Master Roy, you will live and do great +things yet."</p> + +<p>Roy shook his head a little sadly.</p> + +<p>"Sometimes I wonder if I ever will. I won't give up trying, but I shall +never be anything but half a man, with my cork leg and my weak chest. +Dudley would make a much grander master. Still there's one thing I can +do. I can serve God—and I've sent you to serve the Queen, and I can try +to serve my fellow creatures. Good-bye, dear Rob, will you kiss me."</p> + +<p>And then forgetting his dignity, Roy flung his arms round Rob's neck and +hugged him passionately. "I'll never forget you carrying me home that +night," he whispered in his ear, "I loved you from that time. And Rob +you'll do what father told me to do—serve God first."</p> + +<p>Rob nodded, and as he knelt on the ground holding the frail little +figure to him, he made a promise there and then in his heart that he +would never do or say anything that he would be ashamed of Roy's +hearing.</p> + +<p>"They're calling me, Master Roy, good-bye."</p> + +<p>He was gone, and Roy sitting down on the floor, leaned his head against +his bed and burst into tears.</p> + +<p>Dudley found him there, and soon comforted him.</p> + +<p>"Look here, if you like it, let us get upon the wall and see Rob and the +sergeant drive by; we can just see the high road, and Rob had to go to +the inn first, so we shall have plenty of time."</p> + +<p>Roy's whole face beamed, he seized his stick and limped after Dudley +without a thought of his leg, but when he reached the wall he came to a +standstill.</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid I can't climb it, Dudley, I've never been on it since my leg +was broken!"</p> + +<p>But Dudley would take no denial.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, you can, I'll hoist you up, we'll manage it."</p> + +<p>And "manage it" they did to Roy's intense delight, though Mrs. Bertram +would have been horror-struck at the narrow escape the little invalid +had, of falling to the ground during the proceeding.</p> + +<p>When they saw the trap in the distance, they set up a wild cheer, and +waved their handkerchiefs frantically, and when they were answered by a +cheer and a fluttering piece of white, they felt quite satisfied at +their farewell.</p> + +<p>Before they got down from their high perch, Roy said, earnestly, "If God +sent us Rob as an opportunity, Dudley, I wonder if we did him good."</p> + +<p>"Well, you see he was such a lot bigger than us, and Aunt Judy says she +never saw such a steady good boy; it's very difficult to do good to +good people, because you want to be so extra good yourself."</p> + +<p>"At any rate, we've made him the Queen's soldier."</p> + +<p>"Yes," argued Dudley, provokingly; "but he was the first one that +thought of it!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, shut up," was Roy's impatient retort; "he told me himself it was +the song of Jake and Jim that did it, and—and my talking to him."</p> + +<p>"And I expect the sergeant thinks it's all his doing."</p> + +<p>"But he wouldn't have gone unless I had told him he might."</p> + +<p>And as usual Roy had the last word.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="XII"></a><h2>XII</h2> +<br> + +<p>LETTERS</p> + +<p>Very disappointed were the boys at Rob's first letter, which arrived +about a fortnight after he had gone to the regimental depot at a +neighboring town.</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"DEAR MASTER ROY:</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"I hope you and Master Dudley are</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">quite well as it leaves me at present. I like it</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">first-rate, but it is hard work, and I have a</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">good many masters, but I means to do my</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">best. God bless you.</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"From your faithful</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"ROB."</span><br> + +<p>"That's not a letter at all!" said Roy, scornfully; "why he tells us +nothing at all! Why he might have gone to school and told us more! That +from a soldier. It's the stupidest rot I've ever heard!"</p> + +<p>"I think you forget what a poor scholar Rob is," said Miss Bertram, +reprovingly. "Now I think that is a remarkably good letter when I think +what a short time he has been learning to write. You boys had better +each write a proper letter to him yourselves, and ask him what you want +to know. He will like to hear from you."</p> + +<p>And so that afternoon, sitting up in state at the library table, the +boys spread out their writing materials and began to write.</p> + +<p>"I feel," said Roy, biting the end of his pen and looking up at the +ceiling for an inspiration, "that I don't know quite how to begin. I +should like to tell him not to write like an ass, when he knows he ought +to tell us everything."</p> + +<p>"All right, tell him so," said Dudley, squaring his elbow and frowning +terribly as he prepared himself for the task. "You know what old Selby +says: 'Make your paper talk, my boys, and make it talk in your own +tongues.'"</p> + +<p>After a great many interruptions from each other, and a few skirmishes +round the table which resulted in the ink bottle being spilt, the +letters were finished.</p> + +<p>Roy read his aloud with pride to Dudley, who did the same to him.</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"MY DEAR ROB:</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"You must write us longer letters. I</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">am quite sure there is lots to tell. What do</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">you have to eat? And where do you sleep?</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Have you got a gun of your own? Do they</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">let soldiers shoot rabbits on their half-holidays?</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Does the band play while you are at dinner?</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">What are your clothes like, and what are you</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">to be called, now you're a soldier? When</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">will you be a sergeant, and is there any fighting</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">coming off soon? Old Principle says</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">you will be learning drill. What is drill? He</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">says it's learning how to march, but Dudley</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">and I can do that first-rate. How many masters</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">have you got? Write to me to-morrow</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">and tell me all. I hope you will remember</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">you are our soldier, and be sure you do something</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">very grand as quick as ever you can.</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Have you got a sword and a medal? Do you</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">ride on a horse, and can you fire off the cannon?</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">I miss you very much but you belong</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">to us, and must come back full of glory.</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"Your loving friend,</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"FITZ ROY BERTRAM."</span><br> + +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"MY DEAR ROB:</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"I hope you like being a soldier. How</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">many soldiers are there in the same house with</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">you? Give them my love and tell them we</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">hope they liked the cake we put in your box</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">for them. Roy came down to old Principle's</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">with me yesterday. He showed us a hammer</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">out of his cave he dug up. He says you will</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">not be a full blown soldier for a year. He</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">had a cousin who was a sergeant in India—and</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">had his brains burst out in battle. When</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">do you begin to fight? Tell us if you feel</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">funky, and what the enemy looks like, and who</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">they are. We think you ought to write us a</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">much jollier letter. Roy's leg is first-rate, and</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">he is up on the garden wall now like a cat.</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">We sit there to do our evening prep: for old</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Selby. Good-bye. We're on the lookout for</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">your name in the newspapers the first battle</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">that comes off.</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"Roy's friend,</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"DUDLEY."</span><br> + +<p>"I don't think you've finished your letter properly," observed Roy, +critically, as Dudley concluded reading his. "Why do you write you're my +friend?"</p> + +<p>"Because I am," was the prompt reply; "I'm not Rob's friend and I shan't +tell him I am. I just write to him because you do, that's all."</p> + +<p>"Don't you like him?"</p> + +<p>"I don't want him for my friend; he's going to be a kind of servant. +Besides I wanted him to remember that I was your friend. I knew you long +before he did, and if he was dead now, or if he never had been born, I +should have been your friend just the same. We could have got on all +right without him."</p> + +<p>This was not the first touch of jealousy that had appeared in Dudley's +character. He had more than once quarrelled with Roy on account of the +boy who he said had crept in between them, but on Roy always +emphatically assuring him that Rob occupied a back place in his +affections, Dudley would generally be appeased and become his sunny self +again.</p> + +<p>"I like Rob very much," said Roy, slowly, "'specially now he's a +soldier. I was thinking in church last Sunday, when they were reading +about David and Jonathan, that Jonathan had an armor-bearer. That's Rob. +Only I can't go to battle, so I send him. Don't you think that's a nice +idea?"</p> + +<p>"Did he get killed?" asked Dudley, with interest; "I forget about him."</p> + +<p>"It doesn't say—I expect he lived as long as Jonathan did, and then +perhaps David took him to be his servant. That's what I've settled with +Rob, that he shall be your servant if I die."</p> + +<p>Dudley gave himself an impatient shake.</p> + +<p>"Oh, shut up with that rot, you'll live as long as I do!"</p> + +<p>Roy did not speak for a minute, then he said, slowly, "You remember my +will that I made when I was so ill?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, what did you do with it?"</p> + +<p>"Aunt Judy found it the next morning on the floor nearly under the bed. +She laughed a little at first, and then got quite grave when I explained +it, and she took it away and locked it up somewhere. But if I never +make another, you will remember that I have left Rob to you for your +servant."</p> + +<p>Dudley looked up with a comical gleam in his eye.</p> + +<p>"And who gave Rob to you, old chap?"</p> + +<p>"I took him—at least he gave himself to me."</p> + +<p>Roy's tone was dignity itself, but Dudley laughed.</p> + +<p>"Well he doesn't belong to you any longer; the Queen has got him."</p> + +<p>"I have lent him to her, that's all."</p> + +<p>"You talk of Rob as if he is a slave. He's a Briton, and 'Britons shall +be free!'"</p> + +<p>"So he is free, but he chose to be my servant when I grow up, and he +shall be!"</p> + +<p>Dudley dropped the argument, for Roy's face was flushing hotly, and he +was wonderfully patient with him since his accident.</p> + +<p>Miss Bertram entered the room at this juncture, and asked in her cheery +brisk tones, "Would any boys like to drive me to the railway station in +the pony trap? I am going up to London on business, and shall be away +till to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"Hurray," shouted Roy; "we'll come, and just read our letters, Aunt +Judy! Won't they make Rob see how he ought to write?"</p> + +<p>Miss Bertram took the letters in her hand, praised the little writers, +and then sent them off to their rooms to get tidy for their drive.</p> + +<p>A short time after, Roy mounted in front with his aunt, was driving her +with pride along the high road; whilst Dudley from the back seat kept +them lively with his chatter and flow of fun.</p> + +<p>The boys always liked the bustle of the station; and getting a lad to +hold the pony, they followed their aunt to the platform and saw her on +board the train. Some friends spoke to her before the train went off and +amongst them was a certain Captain Smalley.</p> + +<p>"I say," said Dudley, nudging Roy; "he's an officer, and he is in the +army, I expect he knows Rob."</p> + +<p>"We'll ask him, directly the train is off."</p> + +<p>But in the bustle of the last few minutes they missed seeing him; the +young captain got into his dog-cart, and was well on his way home before +the boys were ready to start in their trap.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I say! See him in the distance! Whip up and let us catch him. Here, +let me drive, it's my turn now!"</p> + +<p>But Roy clutched hold of the reins.</p> + +<p>"No, I want to."</p> + +<p>"I tell you it's my turn!"</p> + +<p>"It's the only thing I can do with one leg, it's a beastly shame of +you!"</p> + +<p>Dudley, who had nearly got possession of the coveted reins dropped them +instantly.</p> + +<p>"All right then, but go ahead!"</p> + +<p>And then Roy with a shamed look put the reins in his cousin's hands.</p> + +<p>"I'll give them up. Granny always says I'm selfish. It was awfully mean +to talk of my leg. Now then hurry! Gee-up!"</p> + +<p>Dudley took the reins with a gratified smile, applied the whip, and the +spirited little pony dashed along the road at such a rate, that a porter +looked after them in dismay.</p> + +<p>"Those two young gents will come to their death afore they're +satisfied," he remarked, and another man responded:</p> + +<p>"Yes, the little one is pretty well smashed up already, but legs or no +legs, boys allays keeps their sperrits!"</p> + +<p>Captain Smalley was rather startled at hearing frantic shouts behind +him, and when he pulled up wondering if some message were to be +delivered, he was still more bewildered by what he heard.</p> + +<p>"Hi, Captain Smalley! Stop for us. We've come two miles out of our way. +Now then, Roy, go ahead!"</p> + +<p>"Do you know Rob? We want you to tell us how he is. We can't get a word +out of him; is there going to be any fighting? And how does he look in +his clothes?"</p> + +<p>"Who is Rob?" asked Captain Smalley.</p> + +<p>"Why, he's a soldier like you. You must know him!"</p> + +<p>A few more explanations were made, and then the young man laughed +heartily.</p> + +<p>"Your young friend is learning his recruit drill at the depot, I should +think. If he were in my regiment I might not be able to give you much +information about him. The army is a big affair, my boys, and I doubt if +Rob and I will ever meet."</p> + +<p>The boys' faces fell considerably.</p> + +<p>"Do you think he likes it?" asked Roy, anxiously; "do you like being a +soldier?"</p> + +<p>"Of course I do, and if he has any stuff in him he will like it, too."</p> + +<p>"And will he be sent to fight very soon?"</p> + +<p>"I dare say he may do his seven years without a single fight!"</p> + +<p>Roy looked very disappointed.</p> + +<p>"If he doesn't fight, he might just as well have stopped at home. What's +the good of being a soldier if you don't have any battles?"</p> + +<p>"Soldiers prevent battles, sometimes."</p> + +<p>This sounded nonsense to the boys. They bade the captain good-bye, and +turned their pony's head homeward quite disconsolate.</p> + +<p>"I'll write and tell him to come home if he's not going to do anything," +said Roy, with his little mouth pursed up determinedly.</p> + +<p>"We'll give him a chance, first. He may go out to fight. Captain +Smalley didn't say for certain."</p> + +<p>"I think Captain Smalley is funky himself about fighting, that's what I +think!"</p> + +<p>And with this disdainful assertion Roy dismissed the subject.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="XIII"></a><h2>XIII</h2> + +<p>OLD PRINCIPLE</p> + +<p>It was a soft, mild day in December. Mr. Selby's study seemed close and +stifling to the boys as they sat up at the long table with books and +slates before them, and a blazing fire behind their backs.</p> + +<p>"This sum won't come right, Mr. Selby," groaned Roy; "and I've gone over +it three times. It is made up of nothing but eights and nines. I hate +nine. I wish it had never been made. Who made up figures, Mr. Selby?"</p> + +<p>Roy's questions were rather perplexing at lesson time.</p> + +<p>"I will tell you all about that another time," was Mr. Selby's reply. +"Have another try, my boy: never let any difficulty master you, if you +can help it."</p> + +<p>A knock at the door, and Mr. Selby was summoned to some parishioner. He +was often interrupted when with his pupils, but they were generally +conscientious enough to go on working during his absence.</p> + +<p>But Roy's lesson this morning was not interesting, and he was unusually +talkative.</p> + +<p>"It's no good trying to master this sum, it's all those nines. They're +nasty, lanky, spiteful little brutes, I should like to tear them out of +the sum-books."</p> + +<p>"Expel them from arithmetic," said Dudley, looking up from a latin +exercise, his sunny smile appearing. "Don't you wish we could have a +huge dust hole to empty all the nasty people and things in that we don't +like?"</p> + +<p>"Yes—I'd shovel the nines in fast enough, and a few eights to keep them +company, and then I would throw in all my medicine bottles, and my great +coat, and—and Mrs. Selby on the top of them!"</p> + +<p>This last clause was added in a whisper, for if there was any one that +Roy really disliked, it was his tutor's wife. She was a kind-hearted +woman, but fidgety and fussy to the last degree, and was always in a +bustle. Having no children, she expended all her energies on the parish, +and there was not a domestic detail in any village home that escaped her +eye. She had spoken sharply to the boys that morning for bringing in +muddy footprints, and her words were still rankling in Roy's breast.</p> + +<p>"It's so awfully hot," Roy continued; "let us open the window, Dudley. +Old Selby won't mind for once; it's like an oven in here."</p> + +<p>The window was opened with some difficulty, and the fresh air blowing in +seemed delicious to the boys. Roy clambered up on the old window-seat, +slate in hand, but his eyes commanded the view of the village street, +and the sum made slow progress in consequence.</p> + +<p>"I say! Tom White's pig has broken loose, and that stupid Johnnie Dent +is driving it straight into old Principle's! I expect he'll come out in +an awful rage. No—the door must be shut, he can't get in. There seems +quite a crowd round old Principle's. He's giving them a lecture, I +expect. Here comes old Mother Selby tearing up the street, her bonnet +strings are flying and she's awfully excited!"</p> + +<p>A minute after the door was thrown open.</p> + +<p>"John, it's the most extraordinary thing—oh, you are not here!--Where +is Mr. Selby? I always knew something would happen to that old man +roaming over the hills half the night, and digging holes big enough to +bury himself! John! Where are you?"</p> + +<p>She disappeared as quickly as she had come, banging the door violently +behind her; but Roy sprang down from his seat instantly.</p> + +<p>"Dudley, it's old Principle! Something must have happened to him, do let +us go and see."</p> + +<p>Dudley dashed down his pen, and was vaulting out of the window, when he +suddenly stopped.</p> + +<p>"Roy get your great coat, quick. Aunt Judy made me promise to look +after you. I'll wait while you get it."</p> + +<p>Roy dashed out into the hall. He heard the rector's voice in the +distance, but was too excited to wait to see him, and after impatiently +tugging on his objectionable coat, he limped off as quickly as he could, +joining Dudley at the garden gate. They heard the news on the way to old +Principle's. It appeared that the old man had gone out the afternoon +before, and had never come home. His shop was shut up exactly as he had +left it, and the woman who went in every day to do his cleaning and +cooking for him, was the first one to notice his absence. The group of +idle women round his door were busily discussing the question when the +boys arrived.</p> + +<p>"I shouldn't be a bit surprised if as how he has made away with +hisself," suggested one, knowingly. "I always did say as he were queer +in the head, a makin' out of a pack o' stones such amazin' stories! And +a mutterin' to hisself like no ordinary creetur, and a walkin' through +the woods and fields as if he seed nothin' but what other folks couldn't +see at all!"</p> + +<p>"Ah, now! To think of it! And Bill is a goin' down the river to find his +body; for him and Walter Hitchcock have searched the whole place since +seven o'clock this mornin'!"</p> + +<p>"May be there's a murder in it," said a young woman, cheerfully. "He +were an old man to wander off alone, and there's allays evil-doers round +about for the unprotected."</p> + +<p>The boys listened to these and similar conjectures with frightened eyes; +then Dudley whispered,</p> + +<p>"I believe he is in his cave, Roy; we'll go and look for him. Only don't +tell these women about it, because he hasn't told anybody but us where +it is."</p> + +<p>They left the shop and started for the hills, but Roy's lameness made +progress very slow.</p> + +<p>At last he stopped, and struggling to hide his disappointment said, +"You'll have to go on without me, Dudley. I only keep you back. This old +leg of mine always comes in the way."</p> + +<p>Dudley stopped to consider. "It's a very long way, but we must get there +somehow. Hulloo, here's just the thing."</p> + +<p>They had stopped at a small inn at the outskirts of the village; and +tied to the drinking trough outside, was a rough pony and cart whose +owner was enjoying himself in the tap room with his friends.</p> + +<p>"Jump in, Roy. It's to save old Principle, and anybody would be glad to +lend his cart for that."</p> + +<p>Roy was not long in acting upon this advice. The pony trotted forward +briskly, and the boys would have thoroughly enjoyed this escapade, +except for the fears of their friend's safety.</p> + +<p>"If anything has happened to him, the village will go to the dogs!" Roy +asserted, emphatically; "old Hal said the other day he was worth a +couple of parsons. When I grow up, I think I shall try and be like him. +I shall give good advice to everybody without ever scolding them, that +is what he does."</p> + +<p>"Do you think he is dead?" asked Dudley, "I don't think he can be. Why +it was only the day before yesterday we saw him, and he was as well as +we are."</p> + +<p>It seemed a long time before they reached the cave; the hills were steep +and the pony rather old, and more than once Dudley felt inclined to run +forward on his own two legs. Roy at last suggested this.</p> + +<p>"I can drive up after you as fast as I can; and if you find him you +holloa to me."</p> + +<p>So Dudley jumped out and was soon lost to sight behind the bushes and +hollows that fringed the hills.</p> + +<p>Roy drove on busily thinking, and wondering if they had done wisely to +take the matter into their own hands, and come off alone as they had +done.</p> + +<p>When he at length reached the cave Dudley came to meet him with a +puzzled face.</p> + +<p>"Something has happened, Roy. I can't get into it very far; there's a +lot of earth tumbled down and I can't move it."</p> + +<p>"Then old Principle is buried alive!" cried Roy in terror. "Quick, +Dudley, let us dig him out."</p> + +<p>Dudley seemed quite helpless.</p> + +<p>"I've no spade, and there's no place near to get one. I wish we hadn't +come alone."</p> + +<p>This was a dilemma, but Roy would not be overcome by it.</p> + +<p>"Let us look about for his tools; he always brings them up with him. +Isn't there enough room for me to get in, Dudley?"</p> + +<p>Dudley shook his head, and both boys approached the entrance. There had +indeed been a serious landslip, and it was impossible to remove the +great blocks of stone and earth that had fallen without proper tools; +and though they searched for some traces of old Principle, not a thing +belonging to him could they find.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps he may not be here."</p> + +<p>"I believe he is," maintained Roy; "and we must be as quick as ever we +can. Dudley you go back in the cart and get some men to come and help. I +will stay here. How I wish we hadn't come alone!"</p> + +<p>Left by himself, Roy did not sit down and do nothing. Clambering all +amongst the fallen earth and stone, he eagerly searched for some +crevice or opening; and at last high up in the ravine he found one. Then +lying down flat on the ground he put his mouth to the hole. "Old +Principle! Hi! Old Principle! Are you there?"</p> + +<p>It was not fancy that a muffled voice came up to him—</p> + +<p>"Help! I'm here!"</p> + +<p>That gave Roy fresh strength. Eagerly he tore aside brambles and stones +with small thought of his scratched, bruised hands, and at last had the +satisfaction of viewing a hole big enough to drop his slim little body +through. Then he called again,</p> + +<p>"Old Principle, I'm coming down from the top. Are you hurt? Can you tell +me if it is far to fall?"</p> + +<p>And this time old Principle's voice sounded clearer:</p> + +<p>"God help you, laddie! For I can't help you or myself. No it is not a +very big drop from where you are."</p> + +<p>For one moment Roy looked at the dark chasm below him with hesitation, +then he murmured to himself, "If I break my other leg, I must get to +him—poor old Principle."</p> + +<p>And then carefully and cautiously he let himself down, clinging with his +hands to a stout twig of mountain ash that bent and swayed across the +crevice with his weight.</p> + +<p>Another moment and leaving go of the friendly branch, he dropped on damp +fresh soil, and found himself in almost total darkness. Then as his eyes +got more accustomed to it, he saw the prostrate form of old Principle +only a yard or two away from him. The old man was breathing heavily, and +his legs were completely buried under fallen earth.</p> + +<p>"Is it Master Roy?" he said, as Roy came over and took hold of his hand; +"ay, you shouldn't have imprisoned yourself with me, laddie—I didn't +rightly think of what you were doing—I'm—I'm in such pain!"</p> + +<p>"Are you very hurt? Oh, dear, what can I do? I can't lift you. Are your +legs broken?"</p> + +<p>"I don't rightly know. If you could shift a little of the earth off, may +be it would ease me!"</p> + +<p>Roy looked round and then delightedly seized hold of a small shovel.</p> + +<p>"Your shovel is here. I'll do it," he said, cheerfully, and then to work +he went. The soil was fortunately not heavy to remove, but there was a +great quantity of it before poor old Principle's legs were liberated. +Roy toiled on, hot and breathless, longing that help should come, his +own fatigue forgotten in his pity for the helpless old man.</p> + +<p>"Can you lift yourself up, old Principle? I really think I've got the +earth off your legs—at least most of it!"</p> + +<p>There was a struggle, then a groan.</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid not, laddie. 'Tis the power that has quite gone out of them. +I'm fearing that old Principle will be never roaming the hills again, +but there 'tis the Lord's will, and He never do make mistakes."</p> + +<p>"Do you think your legs are broken like mine were?"</p> + +<p>"I can't rightly say. It has seemed a weary time since I lay here. Many +days and nights I suppose—and I'm longing for a drink, but thank the +Lord, He has sent you to me."</p> + +<p>"It is only since yesterday that you have been lost. And Dudley has gone +back to get some men to come. I wish I could get you some water, but +there's none here, is there?"</p> + +<p>"I am afraid not."</p> + +<p>Silence fell on the pair, which was broken at last by,—</p> + +<p>"'Tis a good principle to think of your mercies when trouble overtakes +you. It has whiled away the time here, and I can thank the Lord with all +my heart, that my head and hands are uninjured!"</p> + +<p>"How did it happen?" asked Roy.</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid I excavated too far and was in the midst of unearthing a +large boulder of stone when I remembered no more—it took me so sudden, +and when I came to life again I thought I was in my bed at home with a +ton's weight on my feet. 'Twas good of the Lord to give me air—that +crevice you came through has saved me."</p> + +<p>"You said a long time ago you could mend anything but broken hearts, but +you can't mend broken legs, can you? Or you would have mended mine."</p> + +<p>"Ay, ay, so I would, surely. No—the mender has turned into a breaker +this time, 'tis a good thing it's only himself that he has broken up."</p> + +<p>A slight groan escaped him, and Roy softly stroked his face, a broken +sob escaping him.</p> + +<p>"Oh, old Principle, how I wish I was strong, how I wish I could move +you! You aren't broken up! Don't say you are. Couldn't I help you to +roll over on your back, wouldn't that be better?"</p> + +<p>After great effort this was partly accomplished, and then to Roy's +intense relief he heard voices above.</p> + +<p>Running to the opening he shouted:</p> + +<p>"Here we are! Help us out, or old Principle will die!"</p> + +<p>But it was some time before the rescue could be accomplished. The +opening was small enough to let Roy through, but not old Principle, and +the boy refused to leave the old man. Pickaxes and shovels were set +heartily to work, and after half an hour's hard toil, the old man was +gently raised out of his dangerous position, and placed in the cart. Roy +was put in with him, and Dudley walked by the side in silence until they +reached the village. There was a great stir and excitement over their +return. Mrs. Selby and their aunt met the boys at the entrance of the +village, and Miss Bertram looked anxiously at Roy's little white set +face.</p> + +<p>He could not be torn away from his old friend till he heard the doctor's +verdict, and it was a far more hopeful one than anybody had anticipated.</p> + +<p>"It is a marvellous escape. Not a bone broken, but of course he is +terribly bruised and shaken, and very stiff."</p> + +<p>"I'll sit with him till we can get a proper nurse," said good-natured +Mrs. Selby; "he seems to have no kith or kin belonging to him. It will +be a lesson to him, for life, I hope, and will put a stop to all this +delving and digging and unearthing what is best left alone. It only +fosters scepticism in the minds of the ignorant, and teaches them to +disbelieve their Bibles!"</p> + +<p>Old Principle looked up with a smile after the doctor's visit.</p> + +<p>"Is little Master Roy there?"</p> + +<p>Roy pressed forward eagerly.</p> + +<p>"I'm thinking, laddie, that you and Master Dudley have had a rare good +opportunity of saving a poor old man's life, and he is duly grateful to +you."</p> + +<p>But Roy was very near tears.</p> + +<p>"I'm so glad—so glad your legs aren't broken," he said, in a quivering +voice, "anything is better than being suddenly turned into a cripple!"</p> + +<p>And then bending over him he kissed the furrowed brow, and crept out of +the room.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="XIV"></a><h2>XIV</h2> +<br> + +<p>HEROES</p> + +<p>Old Principle's accident was a great event in the village. The boys got +their fair share of praise in his rescue, but their grandmother did not +see it in such a favorable light.</p> + +<p>"You ought never to have left your lessons without leave, or taken a +cart belonging to a stranger all unknown to him, or gone off alone +without telling any one about it. And you were shown the folly and +uselessness of such a proceeding by arriving on the scene and being +utterly unable to extricate him from his position. If children would +realize their weakness and foolishness more in these days, they would +develop into better men and women, but self-sufficiency and self-conceit +are signs of the times!"</p> + +<p>Every day the boys went to see their friend, and even Mrs. Selby allowed +that they could be quiet and well-behaved in a sick room. It was a long +time before old Principle regained his health, and he seemed to have +grown much older and feebler since his accident; but his serenity of +spirit was undisturbed, and some of the neighbors who had before voted +him close and cranky, now offered to come and sit with him, and learned +many a lesson from his sickbed. When he was at last able to take his +place in the shop again, Roy's mind was at ease about him.</p> + +<p>"I was so afraid he was going to die as long as he stayed in bed," he +confided to Dudley: "I hope no one will ever die that I like, it must be +such a dreadful thing to have them gone. I think I would rather die +first, wouldn't you?"</p> + +<p>"We can't all die first," said matter-of-fact Dudley; "somebody must be +last."</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't think I shall be," returned Roy, "that's the best of +being weak like I am."</p> + +<p>But this assurance brought no comfort to Dudley.</p> + +<p>A few more labored letters came from Rob, and then one that stirred the +boys' hearts after he had been about three months away from them. It was +to say that he was going out to India in a draft, and had been allowed +three days to come and say good-bye to his friends.</p> + +<p>Roy was almost beside himself with excitement at the prospect of seeing +him again; and when the day came, he insisted upon going to the station +by himself to meet him. Dudley perched on the garden wall awaited their +coming.</p> + +<p>Rob was certainly improved in appearance. He held himself up bravely, +but a softened light came into his eyes, as Roy, looking whiter and more +fragile than ever, flung himself into his arms, utterly regardless of +all onlookers.</p> + +<p>"I'm right glad to see you, Master Roy," said Rob, in a husky voice.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Rob, you look so splendid! And you've got to be quite a man! Come +on, I'm going to drive you home, and we shall be all by ourselves. Now +tell me, are you really and truly happy?"</p> + +<p>Rob did not answer this question till he was in the trap being driven +homeward; then he said, slowly, "Yes, I'm thinking I like it first-rate, +but 'tis hard in many ways. 'Tis hard to keep straight and do the right, +when most seems to live the other way."</p> + +<p>"But most of the soldiers aren't bad, are they?" questioned Roy with +startled eyes.</p> + +<p>"They aren't out and out bad—just careless, I reckon, but old Principle +would say they're lacking in principle."</p> + +<p>"And is it hard being a soldier? I suppose it must be a little. I came +across a text I thought would just fit you, Rob, the other day. 'Endure +hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.'"</p> + +<p>Rob's eyes brightened. He seemed strangely older and graver in his ways, +yet when they drove up in sight of Dudley who slipped down over the +wall, and tumbled himself into the trap with them, he made the boys roar +with laughter with his funny incidents of barrack-room life.</p> + +<p>The three days passed only too soon. Innumerable were the questions put +to the young soldier, and Roy's curiosity about a military life was +insatiable.</p> + +<p>"Well," he said at last, "I don't think I should be strong enough to be +a soldier, but I'm awfully glad you're one, Rob. And now you've got your +chance in India of doing something grand and getting the Victoria Cross. +The opportunity has come to you, and Dudley and I can't get it, though +we've tried hard. But we have helped to send you out to India to do it, +Rob, so you won't fail us, will you? And then when you come back covered +with medals, you shall live with me and always dress in your uniform, so +we'll look forward and think of that!"</p> + +<p>When Rob departed, he had quite a little party of friends to see him off +at the station. Old Hal, the gardener, Ted, the stable-boy, and old +Principle were there, and Miss Bertram and her nephews were with him to +the last.</p> + +<p>"He's begun right, and he'll go on like it," announced old Principle, +with emphasis, as the train steamed out of the station, and Rob leaned +out of the window to wave a last farewell to his friends. "'Tis the +beginnin' of life that boys make such a mess of, as a rule!"</p> + +<p>Roy's eyes were tearful as he watched the train disappear.</p> + +<p>"I've given him to the Queen," he said, gravely, to his aunt; "and no +one can say I'm selfish, for I'd much rather have had him stay with me. +But as I can't do anything grand, he must do it for me!"</p> + +<p>The day after Rob left them, the boys had an invitation to spend the day +with Roy's guardian, General Newton. He did not often ask them over to +see him, so it was considered a great treat, and they set off in high +spirits. The groom drove them over, and they were shown into the +general's study at once upon their arrival. He was not by himself; +another grey-haired gentleman was seated there smoking, and the boys +wondered at first who he was, but General Newton soon enlightened them.</p> + +<p>"This is a very old chum of mine, boys, who was in my regiment with me +when I first enlisted; he has been a hero in his time, so if you make up +to him he will tell you some wonderful stories. Now, Manning, these boys +are smitten with the 'scarlet fever' at present, as a young friend of +theirs has just enlisted. Tell them something about the Crimea; you had +plenty of ghastly experiences there."</p> + +<p>Colonel Manning laughed as he met the boys' admiring gaze, and before +long he was enchanting them by his reminiscences.</p> + +<p>"Now will you tell us the very bravest thing that you ever saw any +soldier do?" demanded Roy, with flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes.</p> + +<p>Colonel Manning looked at his little auditor rather thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>"I've seen a good many brave deeds done," he said, slowly; "but one +stands out in my memory above and beyond them all."</p> + +<p>"Oh, do tell us."</p> + +<p>"It was quite a young lad, a recruit that came to join our regiment when +we were in Malta. He was a fair, curly-headed boy, and seemed quite +frightened at the rough life and ways of his comrades. I happened to be +orderly officer one evening, and was going my rounds, when I passed one +of the barrack-rooms just before lights were out. It was in a low +building and the windows were open. The men were noisy, and the first +thing I heard was a volley of oaths from one of the oldest soldiers +there. The corporal in charge instead of reproving him, was joining in, +and there was a great dispute between a lot of them about some small +matter, when this young chap stood up with a flush on his cheeks. +'Comrades,' he cried; 'would any of you allow your mother to be called +evil names in the barrack-room?' His voice rang put so clearly that +there was a hush at once, and they turned to him in wonder. 'You know +you wouldn't,' he went on; 'and you are ill-treating the name of One who +is dearer and nearer to me than any mother—the best Friend I've got. I +tell you, I won't allow you to do it while I am in the room!' I remember +as I stood there and heard him, and saw the men utterly abashed before +the boy, I felt he had a courage that none of us could equal."</p> + +<p>"Is that all?" asked Dudley, with disappointment in his tone.</p> + +<p>"Did the men stop swearing?" asked Roy.</p> + +<p>"As far as I can remember, they did. The corporal rebuked them, and +lights were put out, but that boy was braver than many a hero on the +battlefield."</p> + +<p>The boys' faces fell.</p> + +<p>"But that was not what we call a brave deed," said Roy, at length. "Of +course it was splendid of him, but it wouldn't get him the Victoria +Cross."</p> + +<p>"No, only a crown of everlasting life, and a word of commendation from +the King of Kings," said the colonel, in a strangely quiet voice; but +Roy's expressive little face kindled at once, and he said no more. They +went into the dining-room to lunch soon, and the boys were too busy +enjoying the good things before them to talk much to their elders. After +it was over General Newton sent them out for a run in the garden. And +then when they came in, he asked them if they would like to come +upstairs to his old picture gallery.</p> + +<p>"I am going to take my friend up, and you can come, too."</p> + +<p>The boys were delighted; they had often heard of this gallery, but had +never been in it as General Newton kept it locked up, and very rarely +opened it.</p> + +<p>"I have some gems amongst the portraits," he said to Colonel Manning as +he unlocked a door in the passage, and led them into a long dusky +corridor; "I will pull up the blinds and then we shall see. They are +mostly ancestors, but one or two are by master hands, and two or three +royal personages are amongst them."</p> + +<p>The boys listened eagerly whilst their host pointed out one and another, +with now and then an anecdote connected with them.</p> + +<p>"Look," said Roy, delightedly, "there's a fine soldier. He is quite +young, and yet what a lot of medals! and oh, General Newton, isn't that +the Victoria Cross on his coat?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, my boy, he served his country well for such a youngster, he +fought in eight battles, and came home without a scratch, though he had +many hair-breadth escapes. In one battle he had two horses shot under +him, and he saved the colors on foot, though he was leading a cavalry +charge."</p> + +<p>"He was a regular hero!" murmured the admiring boys.</p> + +<p>"I don't think he was," said the general, drily. "He had plenty of dash +and go, but no moral courage. He came home after the wars were over, and +broke his mother's heart by becoming a drunkard and a gambler; and he +died an early death from drink and dissipation."</p> + +<p>Roy looked very puzzled.</p> + +<p>"I thought a brave man must be a good one, and brave and good to the end +of his life."</p> + +<p>"A man can face the cannon's mouth better than a friend's ridicule," +said General Newton; "the young soldier we were hearing about before +dinner had a nobler courage than this poor fellow here."</p> + +<p>Roy said no more, but though he listened and looked, the rest of the +time they were in the gallery, his thoughts were with the hero of the +Victoria Cross. He ran back to have one more look at him before they +went downstairs, and gazed up at the bold, frank bearing, and the +laughing mouth of the soldier, with wistful pity in his brown eyes.</p> + +<p>"You served your Queen and country, but I expect you left out God," he +said, in a whisper; then he ran on to overtake the others.</p> + +<p>After an early tea the boys were packed up in the trap to come home.</p> + +<p>"Drive home as quickly as you can," said the general to the groom, "for +rain is not far off, and it will not do to let Master Fitz Roy get a +soaking; he looks as if a breath of wind will blow him away."</p> + +<p>"I do hate people talking about me like that," Roy confided to Dudley as +they set off at a brisk rate; "I might just as well be a girl. I often +wonder I wasn't born one for all the good that I shall do in the world."</p> + +<p>"That's all stuff," said Dudley, indignantly; "you'll be an awfully +strong man I expect when you grow up, you see if you aren't!"</p> + +<p>Roy shook his head, and was unusually silent for some time. They were +driving through the outskirts of a village when down came the rain. The +groom wrapped the boys up as well as he could, and was urging the horse +on, when it suddenly shied and came to a standstill. Looking down, the +groom saw a small child seated in the middle of the road, almost +miraculously preserved from the horse's hoofs.</p> + +<p>"Well, here's a go," he muttered; "where on earth does it come from, we +don't want no delay in such a storm as this!"</p> + +<p>The boys had sprung down at once from the trap, and were endeavoring to +drag the child away when it burst into roars of fright and anger.</p> + +<p>"I want mummy—oh, mummy!"</p> + +<p>It was a little girl between three and four. She had been placidly +nursing a doll in the middle of the road, and seemed perfectly oblivious +of wind and rain.</p> + +<p>"Where do you live?" asked Roy, but the child only continued to wail for +its mother.</p> + +<p>"Here, Master Roy, you'll be wet through. Come back, and let Master +Dudley hoist her up to me. We can't stop all day trying to find out +where she lives. We'll take her back with us for the time."</p> + +<p>But this did not please Roy.</p> + +<p>"No, we must find her mother; she must come from the village we have +passed. You wait there with the horse, Sanders, and we'll take her +back."</p> + +<p>"Let Master Dudley do it, then," said Sanders, crossly, "and you get +into the trap again."</p> + +<p>This also Roy refused to do.</p> + +<p>"It's an opportunity, isn't it, Dudley? And look she has taken hold of +my hand; you run on in front and ask about her at the first cottage you +come to, and I'll bring her after you."</p> + +<p>Sanders grumbled and growled, but the boys did not heed him. Happily the +mother of the child soon appeared, thanked them profusely, and Roy and +Dudley clambered up into the trap again, both wet through.</p> + +<p>"You're a heedless, disobedient pair," said the wrathful Sanders, "and +if I'm blamed for your taking to your beds and gettin' rheumaticky fever +and inflammation of the lungs, it won't be my fault, and I shall tell +the missus so!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="XV"></a><h2>XV</h2> +<br> + +<p>AN UNWELCOME PROPOSAL</p> +<br> + +<p>Roy was not well for some time after this episode. He had a bad +bronchial attack, and was in the hands of his old nurse again.</p> + +<p>"It do seem as if everything conspires to make you a delicate lad," she +said one day; "it beats me how you come through it as well as you do! +But 'tis mostly your thoughtless ways that leads you into trouble."</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry," Roy said, cheerfully; "but I expect I'm stronger than I +look. I never shall be much of a fellow, I know; but even with my cork +leg I can do a good deal, can't I?"</p> + +<p>"You're worth two of Master Dudley!" ejaculated the fond nurse, but this +assertion was of course questioned.</p> + +<p>"I shall never be like Dudley, never! Not in looks, or strength, or +goodness. He is better than I am all round!"</p> + +<p>Miss Bertram came into the room at this moment.</p> + +<p>"Ah, nurse," she said, in her bright, brisk way; "he is like a cat, +isn't he? Has nine lives, I'm sure. There never was such a boy for +getting into scrapes. I'm in fear whenever he is out of our sight now +that he may never come back again."</p> + +<p>"Now, Aunt Judy, you wouldn't have liked me not to have got out to that +baby?"</p> + +<p>"I should like some one else to have done it."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I suppose Dudley would have done it," and Roy's tone was a little +sad; "but you see I wanted to help. As he was saying to me this morning, +he will have many more chances than I when he gets bigger and goes out +to India to do good to people. I shall have to stop at home now, for I +shall never be able to ride, he will have all the big opportunities, and +I must be content with the little ones."</p> + +<p>"You talk like a little old grandfather, sometimes," said Miss Bertram, +laughing, as she sat down beside him. "You must make the most of David +while he is with you, for I have heard from his stepfather this morning, +and he wishes him sent to school at once."</p> + +<p>Roy's eyes opened wide.</p> + +<p>"But I shall go too, shan't I, Aunt Judy?"</p> + +<p>"I am afraid not just yet. You are not fit to rough it; besides we +couldn't lose both our boys!"</p> + +<p>"But I must go if Dudley goes, I must!" and Roy's tone was passionate +now. "I won't have him go away from me—I've lost Rob, and that is bad +enough—You wouldn't take Dudley away from me, too, Aunt Judy!"</p> + +<p>"Hush, hush, we will not talk any more about it now. He will not go +till after Easter, and that won't be here yet."</p> + +<p>Miss Bertram was sorry she had broached the subject, when she saw Roy's +distress, and going downstairs sent Dudley up to play with him.</p> + +<p>Later on when she was sitting with her mother in the drawing-room a +small head appeared. "May I come in, granny?"</p> + +<p>It was Dudley, and his round and rosy face was unusually solemn. +Marching in he took up his position on the hearth-rug, his back to the +fire, and with his hands deep in his pockets, he turned his face rather +defiantly toward his grandmother.</p> + +<p>"Granny, I'm not going to school without Roy."</p> + +<p>"Hoighty-toity! What next, I wonder. Is that the way for little boys to +speak to their elders. You will do what you are told as long as you are +in my house, as your father did before you."</p> + +<p>"It is your stepfather's wish," put in Miss Bertram; "you ought to be +willing to obey him."</p> + +<p>"Not if he tells me to do something wrong. And I'm sure it would be +quite a wrong thing for me to go away from Roy. We have promised never +to leave each other till we grow up, and we don't mean to break our +promise. And, granny, I'm sure you don't like broken promises. Father +doesn't know about Roy, and he can't understand like I do, and it would +be very wrong of him if he took me away from Roy!"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Bertram put on her glasses and inspected her little grandson with +searching eyes.</p> + +<p>"That is a most disrespectful speech, Dudley. I shall of course uphold +your father's wishes."</p> + +<p>"But, granny, I can't leave Roy. It will break his heart. You don't know +how he frets about his leg. He doesn't say much and is always so +cheerful, but he misses me most awfully even if I'm away for a day. If +he was well and strong, he could get on first-rate, but he wouldn't get +about half so much if I didn't take him. I think he would mope and mope +all by himself. And I don't think we could live without each other. You +won't send me away, will you?"</p> + +<p>Tears were filling Dudley's blue eyes, but Mrs. Bertram looked +displeased.</p> + +<p>"In my days, children never thought of arguing with their elders. I +think your aunt and I are as capable of taking care of Roy as you are. +Now leave the room, and do not refer to the matter again."</p> + +<p>Then Dudley astonished his grandmother by the first exhibition of +temper that he had ever displayed before her.</p> + +<p>"I <i>won't</i> be separated from Roy. If you send me to school, I shall run +away, and I shall write and tell father the reason!"</p> + +<p>A stamp of the foot emphasized this passionate speech, and then Dudley +fled from the room, banging the door violently behind him.</p> + +<p>As on a former occasion he now took himself and his grief to old +Principle. It was early-closing day in the village, and he found the old +man just locking up his door prepared for a ramble.</p> + +<p>"Come along up to the hills with me, laddie," he said, after hearing the +trouble; "there's nothing like fresh air for blowing away a fit of the +dumps. I am going to the cave again—will you come with me?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I will. I've been in an awful temper in granny's room, and banged +her door. I don't think she'll ever forgive me!"</p> + +<p>"'Tis like this, Master Dudley," said old Principle, presently, as they +walked over the hills together; "if it's right for you to go, there's +nothing to be said, and you must fall in with it whether you like it or +no."</p> + +<p>"But it can't be right for me to leave Roy when he wants me."</p> + +<p>"It may be the best thing in the world for him and you, if it is to be. +'Tis a bad principle to determine whether a thing is right or wrong, +according to our liking."</p> + +<p>"It's a cruel thing to part us!" said Dudley, doggedly.</p> + +<p>"But may be a way will be found out of the difficulty by Master Roy +going with you."</p> + +<p>"They say he isn't strong enough. That wetting in the rain has made him +bad again."</p> + +<p>"Well now I should ask the good Lord to make him strong enough. There's +time between this and Easter."</p> + +<p>Dudley brightened up at once.</p> + +<p>"Do you think he might be strong enough? I should be able to take great +care of him, and I would, too. And he's so plucky, that I'm sure the +other boys would be good to him."</p> + +<p>The cave was reached, and in the interest of watching excavation going +on Dudley was soon his bright self again.</p> + +<p>He came home radiant, with a match-box full of tiny shells for Roy who +was waiting for him in the nursery.</p> + +<p>"You have been away a time," he said, wearily: "I'm sure I'm well enough +to go out now. I can't bear the winter. It means so many colds and +aches."</p> + +<p>"Well, you're going to get better very soon, and look here, old chap! If +you try your very best, perhaps the old doctor will give you leave to +come to school with me after Easter."</p> + +<p>Roy's eyes sparkled at the thought.</p> + +<p>"Nurse always makes such a molly-coddle of me, and so does granny; but +I'll try as hard as I can to be better."</p> + +<p>"And now just look at these! Old Principle says these show that the sea +must have washed up amongst the hills and into his cave hundreds of +years ago, for these belong to salt water fish not river ones. Look at +them! 'Fossils' he calls them, they're shells made out of stone. He told +me I might give you these from him. I thought he would never go back to +his cave again after last December, but he says he feels so much +stronger now; and he is very careful how he digs; he won't let me come +near him while he does it. And he told me he has been busy writing a +paper which he is going to send to some society in London—I forget its +name. He is what you call a discoverer, isn't he?"</p> + +<p>Roy nodded, then asked anxiously:</p> + +<p>"Dudley, were you rude to granny before you went out? Aunt Judy came to +look for you here, and she said she hoped you were going to beg granny's +pardon for something."</p> + +<p>"I'll go now, I had almost forgotten."</p> + +<p>And Dudley trotted off to his grandmother's room. She received him +sternly, but he was so abjectly penitent that she soon forgave him, and +he returned to Roy with a relieved mind.</p> + +<p>"It's a dreadful thing to have a temper," he remarked, as he sat upon +the nursery table swinging his legs to and fro; "I've given granny an +awful headache by the way I banged her door."</p> + +<p>"What was it about?" asked Roy, with interest.</p> + +<p>"About school," was the answer; "I told her I wasn't going away from +you."</p> + +<p>"I've been thinking of it a lot," said Roy, with a sigh; "but you'll +have to go, and I shall get on pretty well without you. You see a boy +with one leg wouldn't be much good amongst a lot of other boys. They +would only call him a cripple and push him aside. I shouldn't like them +to laugh at me. The only thing for me is a cripple school. Nurse has a +little grandson at one. I don't much care for cripples, those I've seen +seem very poor creatures with no fun in them, but of course I'm one +myself now; only I don't feel like it."</p> + +<p>"You're no more a cripple than I am," was Dudley's indignant rejoinder, +"why no one would tell anything was the matter with you to look at you."</p> + +<p>"We won't talk any more about it," said Roy, "I'm hungry and I hear tea +coming."</p> + +<p>But both the little hearts were very full of a possible separation, and +for some days after it lay like a heavy nightmare on them. Then a letter +arrived from Rob which turned the current of their thoughts. It was his +first letter from India, and the boys looked at the foreign stamps and +paper, as if it were the greatest rarity on earth.</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"MY DEAR MASTER ROY:</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"I write to tell you we are safely here</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">and I am quite well as I hope you are. It is</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">very hot, but we don't do much work in the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">middle of the day and I like the place. I wish</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">you could see the flowers and the black men</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">and the funny houses and the colored dresses</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">of the people. I am getting on, I hope, and</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">my sergeant told me the other day I might</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">get the stripe soon if I liked. I will keep a</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">lookout as you told me for Master Dudley's</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">father, but they say India is a bigger place</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">than England, which I don't believe, for we're</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">the grandest nation in the world, and the biggest</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">and the best, all of us in the barrack-room</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">agree to that. I saw a scorpion to-day</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">which pinches when it catches you and draws</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">the blood awful. There is a mountain battery</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">with us now, and they use mules instead of</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">horses, the hills are higher than those at home</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">and it's hard work going up. There is not</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">any fighting yet, but I am ready for it when</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">it comes, and will do my duty to the Queen</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">and you. My chum has helped me write this</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">letter and I hope it pleases you. I am trying</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">to endure hardness. Good-bye, Master Roy,</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"Your faithful ROB.</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"God bless you."</span><br> + +<p>"That's a much nicer letter, isn't it?" said Roy, in great delight; +"that is quite as long as the one I sent him. I hope he will get some +fighting soon."</p> + +<p>"Supposing if he does, and gets killed?" suggested Dudley.</p> + +<p>But Roy put this thought away from him.</p> + +<p>"I've known such lots of soldiers in books that come home, that I think +he will. Besides God will take care of him. Do you remember the picture +gallery at the general's the other day, Dudley?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, what about it?"</p> + +<p>"I was thinking about that soldier there with all his medals who broke +his mother's heart; and then about the soldier boy the general said was +the bravest. I suppose I would rather Rob was properly brave like that, +than do great things in battle; but I should think he might do both, +don't you think so?"</p> + +<p>And Dudley nodded, adding, "Rob won't drink or gamble, I'm quite sure."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="XVI"></a><h2>XVI</h2> +<br> + +<p>DAVID AND JONATHAN</p> + +<p>Easter came, and to the boys' great delight Roy was so much stronger +that it was settled he might accompany Dudley to a private boarding +school for one term. Thanks were due to Miss Bertram for this +arrangement; and she had great difficulty in obtaining her mother's +consent to it.</p> + +<p>"I am sure the boys will get on best together; Roy will have a better +chance of growing strong if he is with Dudley than if he is to mope by +himself here. If we find he does not keep well, we can have him home +again; and from all we hear of the school, the boys are most carefully +looked after."</p> + +<p>And certainly to judge from Roy's appearance and spirits, this plan +seemed most successful. It was a bright morning in April. The air was +cold but dry, and the old garden was sweet with the scent of hyacinths +and narcissuses. Bright beds of tulips and polyanthuses bordered the +green lawn, and old Hal was surveying the results of his work with pride +and satisfaction. Miss Bertram, in her leather gloves and garden apron, +was busy in and out of the hothouses; and the boys, after scampering +round in every one's way, had at last scrambled up to their favorite +seat on the garden wall.</p> + +<p>"This time next week we shall be at school," said Dudley; "how funny we +shall feel!"</p> + +<p>"We shan't be able to climb walls there, I suppose."</p> + +<p>"On half-holidays, perhaps we shall. It isn't all lessons; old Selby +told us the happiest time of his life was when he was at school."</p> + +<p>"I mean to be happy," said Roy, a smile hovering about his lips.</p> + +<p>"And so do I," maintained Dudley, stoutly; "but it will be awfully +strange at first. It's like Rob going off to be a soldier. We're going +out 'to see life' nurse says."</p> + +<p>"Old Principle wants us to come to tea with him before we go. I saw him +this morning going past our gate. He'll give us some of his good advice +like he did Rob, but I don't mind him, he's such a jolly old chap."</p> + +<p>There was silence between them for a few minutes. Dudley was eating a +slice of cake which he had brought out of the house with him, and Roy +was dreamily watching the figures of his aunt and the old gardener +moving about amongst the bright colored flower beds.</p> + +<p>"Dudley, we'll always keep friends, won't we?"</p> + +<p>"Of course we will."</p> + +<p>"But I dare say you'll have a lot of fellows at school who can get about +quicker with you than I can; and I don't want to keep you back. I only +want you to like me still best in your heart."</p> + +<p>"Now look here, old chap! You know that I couldn't like any other fellow +better than you. You're much more likely to have a lot of chums than I +am, because you're so clever. Look at Rob; he used to think nothing of +me at all, and I got to think you didn't want me with you, after he +came."</p> + +<p>"That was awful rot then, because we two are quite different to any +other people. Only it would be a good thing to have a fresh promise +together; a kind of Bible covenant, you know, before we go to school."</p> + +<p>"All right, here goes, then! Let us have your fists—now then, hear me! +I, Dudley Bertram, vow and declare that Fitz Roy Bertram shall continue +to be my dearest and nearest chum from this time forth, forevermore. +Amen."</p> + +<p>Roy grasped Dudley's hands eagerly and earnestly, and repeated his vow +in the same words, perhaps with additional emphasis; then with a sigh of +relief, he turned to chatter of other things.</p> + +<p>Shortly after Miss Bertram came up to them with a newspaper in her +hand.</p> + +<p>"Granny has just sent out this paper to me, boys. She thought you would +like to know that the troops in the place where Rob is, have all been +sent out on some expedition against a rebel chief in the mountains, so +he will have some fighting now."</p> + +<p>"Hurrah!" shouted Dudley, "don't I wish I was with him! Does the +newspaper mention his name, Aunt Judy?"</p> + +<p>"When shall we have a letter from him?"</p> + +<p>"Not for some time yet, because this is telegraphed. It will be all over +before we hear. We must hope and pray that Rob may be kept safely +through it."</p> + +<p>Miss Bertram looked grave, and the boys sobered down at once.</p> + +<p>"But, Aunt Judy, of course fighting is dreadful, but it is a soldier's +duty, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>"And Rob is sure to do his duty."</p> + +<p>"Yes, boys, we will hope he will serve his Queen as well as he served us +whilst here. Rob was a good boy: I wish there were more like him."</p> + +<p>And Miss Bertram moved away, whilst her little nephews worked off their +excitement at this news, by jumping down from the wall, and performing a +mimic battle in the pine wood outside. Very eagerly and impatiently did +they look for a letter before they went off to school, but none came; +and the last word that Roy said as he was leaving the house was,—</p> + +<p>"Mind, Aunt Judy, you send on my letter when it comes as quick as +lightning!"</p> + +<p>It was rather an ordeal for both the boys when the last leave-takings of +all at home came. The old nurse wept profusely, and was only comforted +by the assurance that she should go to her charges on the very first +intimation of illness. Mrs. Bertram gave them such warnings against +choosing evil companions, and becoming depraved in principles, that the +boys were quite awed and depressed; and the servants, one and all, +expressed such pity and sympathy for their departure, that Dudley at +last confided to Roy:</p> + +<p>"If we were going to prison they couldn't look more shocked and gloomy."</p> + +<p>General Newton insisted upon taking them himself to school.</p> + +<p>"It looks well," he said to Miss Bertram, a little pompously; "for the +boys to have a man at their back, and I will have a few words with the +principal myself about Roy's delicacy of constitution. It will come with +more force from me than from you."</p> + +<p>So the general was allowed to have his way, and by the time the boys +were in the train with a large packet of sandwiches and cakes to while +away the time, their spirits rose, and they declared that going off to +school was "the jolliest thing out."</p> + +<p>It was late in the evening when they reached their destination. The +school was not far from the sea, and the clergyman who kept it would +never have more than thirty boarders; his wife, a sweet-faced +gentlewoman, received the boys most kindly, and General Newton came away +satisfied that it would prove a happy home as well as a good training +for the motherless boys.</p> + +<p>Dudley and Roy were not long in making themselves at home; their high +spirits made them general favorites amongst the boys; and even Roy did +not feel himself out of place in the playground, whilst in the +schoolroom he proved a quick and intelligent pupil.</p> + +<p>"The boys are happy, mother," said Miss Bertram one morning going into +her mother's room and handing her two letters; "and Mrs. Hawthorn has +written most favorably of them both."</p> + +<p>"I should think so," said Mrs. Bertram, stiffly, who though sternness +itself to her grandsons was most indignant if any one dared to say a +word against them to her; "they would not be true Bertrams if they were +not favorites with all."</p> + +<p>She opened the letters and read—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"DEAR AUNT JUDY:</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"It's our hour for home letters. We</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">like it here awfully. Mrs. Hawthorn is a brick,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">she lets me come into the drawing-room with</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">her whenever I am tired, but I've only been</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">in once yet because I like to watch the boys</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">play best. I can bowl at cricket and bat too,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">and I give a boy called 'Gnat' twopence a</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">game to do my runs for me. I'm collecting</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">birds' eggs. There's a boy here who has got</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">250 of them. I mean to find a sea gull's nest,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">and then he'll swap twenty of his with me for</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">one gull's, because he has never got one yet.</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">There is a boy called 'Simple Simon,' he</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">thinks I am a wonder because I let him run</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">pins into my cork leg and never cry out. He</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">does not know it's a sham leg and I shan't tell</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">him. We should like another hamper very</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">soon, please. Cook's gingerbread was A1.</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Give my love to granny, and tell her I take my</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">tonic when I go to bed every night. Give my</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">love to nurse. Tell old Principle Mr. Hawthorn</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">would like to know such a clever man</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">and see his cave. Send me Rob's letter</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">directly it comes, please. We do drill in the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">gymnasium.</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"Your loving nephew</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"FITZ ROY BERTRAM."</span><br> + +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">DEAR AUNT JUDY:</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"This is an awfully jolly school. I'd</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">like you to be one of the boys. We are going</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">to have a paper chase next Thursday, and I bet</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">I'll lick some of the chaps at running. Roy</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">and I sleep in the next beds to each other. I</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">look after him when he will let me, he is top</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">of his class and Tom Hunter says he is a plucky</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">chap. Hunter is captain of the eleven. We</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">go to bathe every morning down by the sea,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">and Hunter says his father is going to give</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">him a boat of his own in the summer. There</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">is a jolly tuck shop in the town. We can go</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">to it every Saturday. There is a boy here</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">called 'Fishy,' he wants to be my chum but I</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">like one called 'Cheshire Cat' better, but I</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">have no chum but Roy. Old Hawthorn only</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">canes for lies. A boy got caned last night,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">and blubbered like a baby before he went in.</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">I send my love to granny, and all of you. Roy</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">expects Rob's letter every day.</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"Your loving nephew</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"DUDLEY.</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"P.S. Hunter says our cake has made his</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">mouth water for the next."</span><br> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="XVII"></a><h2>XVII</h2> +<br> + +<p>ROY'S BIG OPPORTUNITY</p> + +<p>"Roy, Mrs. Hawthorn wants you. She has got some letters for you."</p> + +<p>Dudley came up excitedly to Roy, directly after dinner was over one +Saturday afternoon.</p> + +<p>"And I say," he continued; "bring them out and let us go down to the +beach to read them together. The tide will be out till the evening."</p> + +<p>Roy hastened off, and wondered at Mrs. Hawthorn's grave look.</p> + +<p>"Your aunt has sent me some letters to give you, Roy. She has only just +received them herself. They are about your friend in India."</p> + +<p>"From Rob?" said Roy, with sparkling eyes. "Oh, I thought he never would +write. How jolly! And I see his writing, that's my letter."</p> + +<p>He held out his hand eagerly but Mrs. Hawthorn laid her hand on his +shoulder gently.</p> + +<p>"Yes, that was a letter he wrote to you before the fighting. Your aunt +has heard since—from a nurse who nursed him."</p> + +<p>Something in her tone frightened Roy.</p> + +<p>"Has he been wounded? He is well again, isn't he?"</p> + +<p>"He is quite well now," she said, in a hushed voice.</p> + +<p>For a minute Roy gazed at her, with horror and doubt dawning in his dark +eyes, then snatching the letters out of her hand he rushed out of the +room; and seizing hold of Dudley in the hall he exclaimed almost +frantically:</p> + +<p>"Dudley, something awful has happened to Rob, let us get away from the +house and read these letters."</p> + +<p>He held them tightly in his hand, and would not let Dudley take them +from his grasp, till they reached the beach.</p> + +<p>Then sitting down and leaning against an old weather-beaten rock, Roy, +with trembling fingers, first unfolded Rob's letter to himself.</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"MY DEAR MASTER ROY:</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"We are going up to the mountains to-morrow</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">to fight. The men say it will be stiff</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">work, driving an old chief from his stronghold.</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Some of them don't like it, but I am</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">ready. I am a better writer now, I hope, so</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">want to tell you what I never have yet. I do</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">thank you with all my heart for being so kind</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">to a homeless lad and taking him in and giving</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">him a happy home. And I thank you</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">much more for teaching him to read and write</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">and giving up your playtime to get him on.</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">But if I was to thank you for a hundred years,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">I couldn't thank you enough for telling me</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">about my Saviour and showing me the way to</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">heaven. Every word you ever said is sticking</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">to me. I mind all our talks, and if I may</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">have had some rough times in trying to serve</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">God first, I have been as happy as a king.</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And I have found that the Lord has kept me</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">through the worst times, and I love Him with</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">all my heart. When I get to heaven I shall</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">be able to thank you proper. I do feel thankful</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">to you and Master Dudley. And now</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">good-bye and God bless you.</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"Your faithful ROB forever."</span><br> + +<p>Roy read this through.</p> + +<p>"He's all right, Dudley. What did she mean? Why did she look so funny?"</p> + +<p>Dudley shook his head.</p> + +<p>"I don't know, read what Aunt Judy says."</p> + +<p>Roy spread out his aunt's letter, and read it in unfaltering tones to +the end.</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"MY POOR DEAR LITTLE JONATHAN:</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"If granny were not really very unwell</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">I should have come straight off to soften the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">blow to you, but I send the letters which I</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">have just received, and I have asked Mrs.</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Hawthorn to explain them to you. You must</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">be comforted by knowing that our dear Rob</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">has proved himself a hero and died a hero's</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">death. I know you would like to see the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">nurse's letter written from the hospital, and I</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">also send you one from the major of his regiment</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">who used to know me years ago. I know</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">you will be a brave boy and bear this trouble</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">like a man. Tell Dudley to write to me by</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">the first post to tell me you have got the letters</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">safely.</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"Your loving aunt,</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"JULIA BERTRAM."</span><br> + +<p>The letter dropped from Roy's grasp, and he flung himself down on the +beach face foremost.</p> + +<p>Dudley sat staring out at the sea without speaking. The blow had fallen +so heavily, and so unexpectedly, that speech was not forthcoming.</p> + +<p>At last Roy looked up.</p> + +<p>"You read the other letters to me, Dudley," he said, in a choked voice.</p> + +<p>And Dudley, with a good deal of hesitation and effort interrupted by +tears, read out as follows:</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"DEAR MADAM:</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"I have been asked to write to you</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">about Robert White who I am sorry to say</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">was brought into the military hospital the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">other day dangerously wounded. He lingered</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">three days and was perfectly conscious up to</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">the last. I never saw a braver or more patient</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">lad. He told me all about your goodness to</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">him, and his devotion to a little nephew of</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">yours was most touching. His name was always</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">on his lips. He asked me to tell you the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">circumstances of his death, and added, 'She</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">will tell Master Roy, I have tried to do my</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">duty. And I will be waiting now in heaven to</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">welcome him. I would have liked to be his servant,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">but God wants me, and God comes first.'</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">I heard from his sergeant the details of the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">engagement. A small party of them—White</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">among them—had been ordered to go and</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">take a certain mountain pass, and their officer</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">in command was shot just before they reached</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">it. I wish I could give you the account in the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">sergeant's own words as he told it me. I will</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">try. 'We were marching up in single file, for</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">the pass was a very narrow one. Through</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">the clefts round it, we saw projecting the enemy's</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">bayonets and spears, and we knew it</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">was certain death for the first one in our</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">ranks. I led the men, and I tell you, Mum, it</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">was a cold-blooded way of meeting one's</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">death, worse than in the fiercest battle fighting</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">shoulder to shoulder! I pulled myself together,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">tried to say a prayer and marched on,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">wondering where I should be the next minute,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">when suddenly before I knew where I was,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Corporal White had placed himself in front of</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">me. "You are not ready, sergeant," he said;</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"I am, let me take your place." It wasn't time</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">to stand arguing, but I tell you I felt queer</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">when I saw the lad stretched for dead under</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">my feet. We had a sharp skirmish, but we</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">drove the enemy back, and the first one I</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">went to look for was White.'</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"The sergeant told me this with a sob in</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">his voice; he added that for months he had</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">ridiculed White for his religion and tried to</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">drive it out of him. But he came every morning</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">to the hospital, and I saw him on his knees</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">by White's bedside, offering up a prayer that</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">he might be made a different man.</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"And now I must try to give you more details</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">about White himself. I asked him if I</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">could do anything for him the last day he was</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">alive and then he asked me to write to you.</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">He kept the photo of your little nephew under</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">his pillow, and more than once he murmured—'God</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">first, the Queen next, and then Master</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Roy—I'll be a faithful servant if I can!'</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Toward evening I saw he was sinking. I said</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">'Are you comfortable, corporal?' and he looked</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">up with such a radiant smile: 'Safe in the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">arms of Jesus,' he murmured, and those were</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">his last words. From what I have heard from</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">those who knew him out here, I gather that</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">his life was a singularly pure and upright one,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">and that young as he was he had influenced</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">more than one careless drinking man to turn</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">over a new leaf, and be the same as he was. I</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">am forwarding his Bible and small belongings</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">by this mail.</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"Believe me, dear madam,</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"Yours faithfully,</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"ROSE SMITH—Sister in Charge."</span><br> + +<p>Roy listened to this with breathless interest, his eyes shining through +his tears.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Dudley, how splendid! oh, Rob, you have been a brave soldier, but I +shall never, never see you again!"</p> + +<p>Down went the little head and a torrent of tears burst forth; whilst +Dudley laying his curly head against his cousin's joined him in his +weeping. One more letter remained to be read and this was the major's—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"DEAR MISS BERTRAM:</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"Having heard from you that one of</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">my men was a protégé of yours, I take the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">opportunity of saying a word for the poor</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">young fellow. He has been an exemplary</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">character since he came into the regiment, and</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">has, I hear, been a general favorite from his</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">extreme good nature, in spite of being a religious</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">lad. His influence was felt by all his</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">comrades who came in contact with him, and</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">I feel we have lost a smart and promising soldier.</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The sister in the hospital tells me she is</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">writing particulars of his death. My sergeant</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">is very much cut up over it.</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"With kind regards,</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"Believe me, yours truly,</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"W.A. ALDRIDGE—Major."</span><br> + +<p>"And that's all," said Dudley, mournfully; "why, I can't believe Rob is +dead—we never knew he was ill."</p> + +<p>Roy took up the letter, and read through Rob's again. Then he looked +across the blue ocean in front of him.</p> + +<p>"Just read me that bit of the nurse's letter of the fight, Dudley. Can't +you think of him marching up to the enemy?"</p> + +<p>Dudley read the desired bit, and then with a deep drawn breath Roy said:</p> + +<p>"He acted out the song of the drummer boys, didn't he? He marched on to +meet his death like they did. I wonder how it felt. Could you have put +yourself in front of the sergeant, Dudley?"</p> + +<p>"If you had been the sergeant, I could," was the prompt reply.</p> + +<p>"But the sergeant hadn't been kind to him. Oh, Rob, Rob."</p> + +<p>"Don't cry so, old chap, you'll make yourself ill. He's happy now. +Don't you think we'd better be going in?"</p> + +<p>But Roy would not leave the beach till the tea bell sounded, and then he +crept in with such a white, weary face that kind Mrs. Hawthorn put him +straight to bed, and stayed with him listening to his trouble till tired +out and exhausted he fell asleep. When Dudley came to bed he found him +clutching the letters tight in one hand, and muttering in his sleep, +"God first, the Queen next, and then Master Roy!"</p> + +<p>Once in the night he was roused by Roy's grasping hold of his +bedclothes.</p> + +<p>"Dudley, are you asleep?"</p> + +<p>"No," was the sleepy answer, "aren't you well?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, but I can't sleep. Tell me, was it my fault? Did I send Rob to his +death? I wanted him to go. Did I make him go?"</p> + +<p>"Of course you didn't," and Dudley now was wide-awake. "He wanted to go +first, and you didn't like it, don't you remember?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I think he liked going; but if he hadn't heard that song perhaps +he would never have gone, he would never have wanted to be a soldier."</p> + +<p>"He did a lot of good out there. I don't think he will be sorry now."</p> + +<p>Roy settled down to sleep again comforted; but for the next few days he +seemed quite unable to give his mind to his lessons, and after some +correspondence with Miss Bertram, it was arranged that he and Dudley +should go home from Saturday to Monday. It was a sad home-coming, and +when Roy saw Rob's Bible his grief burst out afresh. The pages showed +how much they had been studied, but no verse was more marked than the +one Roy had given him. "Endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus +Christ."</p> + +<p>On Sunday evening the boys paid a visit to old Principle. They had been +talking about Rob, when Roy said wistfully,</p> + +<p>"Rob used his opportunity when he got it, didn't he? I expect he didn't +know what a hero he was. I wonder if I shall ever get one come to me. I +should like to do something great for God, and great for my country. I +shall never give up wishing for a great opportunity to come to me!"</p> + +<p>Then old Principle spoke, and his tone was very solemn:</p> + +<p>"'Tis not I that will make you proud and uplifted, laddie, but you have +been given the grandest opportunity that ever a poor mortal could be +given, and you've taken it and made use of it, thank the Lord!"</p> + +<p>Both boys gazed up at him with open eyes and mouths.</p> + +<p>Dudley said after a minute's thought:</p> + +<p>"We've both had some little opportunities, and Roy has had the biggest. +He saved me from drowning, and he went into the cave to fetch you!"</p> + +<p>"Those weren't proper opportunities," muttered Roy in scorn, "they +aren't worth remembering; not after what Rob has done."</p> + +<p>"Yes, the opportunity I'm talking of was a grander one than them, though +old Principle can't forget he owes his life perhaps to both of you boys' +thought of him. 'Tis what the Lord Himself left His throne in heaven +for," the old man proceeded in the same solemn tones; "'tis the one +thing, the only thing we're told brings joy to the happy ones above; nay +to the Almighty Himself, and 'tis wonderful that He will let us have the +part in it we do!"</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" questioned Roy awed and puzzled by old Principle's +manner.</p> + +<p>"I mean this, laddie, you had an opportunity of leading an ignorant soul +to the feet of his Saviour; of enlisting a soldier not only in the +Queen's service but in the service of the King of Kings; of being the +means of filling an empty barren soul with a flood of light and +gladness; and of sending out a missionary in the midst of ungodliness +and vice, to turn many from the error of their ways. Is it not a greater +honor to help to save a soul from destruction, than bring glory to +yourself by some feat of physical strength or skill? Thank the Lord on +your knees to-night, that He sent you the opportunity you were always +hankering after; and thank Him He gave you the grace to seize hold of +it, and make use of it for His Glory, not your own!"</p> + +<p>Old Principle's burst of eloquence almost startled the boys, and they +received it in silence; but later on, as they were walking home in the +cool of the evening Roy linked his arm in Dudley's and said softly—</p> + +<p>"I see it all now. My broken leg and everything. It was when I was too +weak to go out with you, that Rob and I used to talk over these things."</p> + +<p>And Dudley replied, with an emphatic nod, "Yes, though you didn't know +it, Rob was your big opportunity."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="FINIS"></a><h2>FINIS.</h2> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of His Big Opportunity, by Amy Le Feuvre + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HIS BIG OPPORTUNITY *** + +***** This file should be named 11470-h.htm or 11470-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/4/7/11470/ + +Produced by Joel Erickson, Michael Ciesielski, Amy Petri and PG +Distributed Proofreaders + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: His Big Opportunity + +Author: Amy Le Feuvre + +Release Date: March 6, 2004 [EBook #11470] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HIS BIG OPPORTUNITY *** + + + + +Produced by Joel Erickson, Michael Ciesielski, Amy Petri and PG +Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + +[Illustration: "Quite a little party of friends to see him off." (p. +155)] + + + + + HIS BIG OPPORTUNITY + + BY AMY LE FEUVRE + + Author of "Probable Sons," "The Odd One," + "Teddy's Button," etc, etc. + + 1898 + + + + +Contents + + +Chapters + +I. On the Garden Wall + +II. A Song + +III. Making An Opportunity + +IV. An Awkward Visit + +V. A Lost Donkey + +VI. Rob + +VII. A Walnut Story + +VIII. The Bertrams' Leap + +IX. Making His Leap + +X. A Cripple + +XI. A Gift to the Queen + +XII. Letters + +XIII. Old Principle + +XIV. Heroes + +XV. An Unwelcome Proposal + +XVI. David and Jonathan + +XVII. Boy's Big Opportunity + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + + + +Quite a Little Party of Friends to See Him Off + +Old Principle Laughed at Dudley's Notion + +"Now Then, You Rascals, What Are You Doing to My Donkey?" + +"He's Dead, Ben--He's Dead!" + + + + +I + + +ON THE GARDEN WALL + +They were sitting astride on the top of the old garden wall. Below them +on the one side stretched a sweet old-fashioned English garden lying in +the blaze of an August sun. In the distance, peeping from behind a +wealth of creepers and ivy was the old stone house. It was at an hour in +the afternoon when everything seemed to be at a standstill: two or three +dogs lay on the soft green lawn fast asleep, an old gardener smoking his +pipe and sitting on the edge of a wheelbarrow seemed following their +example; and birds and insects only kept up a monotonous and drowsy +dirge. + +But the two little figures clad in white cricketting flannels, were full +of life and motion as they kept up an eager and animated conversation on +their lofty seat. + +"You see, Dudley, if nothing happens, we will make it happen!" + +"Then it isn't an opportunity." + +"Yes it is. Why if those old fellows in olden times hadn't ridden off to +look for adventures they would never have found them at home." + +"But an opportunity isn't an adventure." + +"Yes, it is, you stupid! An adventure is something that happens, and so +is an opportunity." + +The little speaker who announced this logic so dogmatically, was a slim +delicate boy with white face, and large brown eyes, and a crop of dark +unruly curls that had a trick of defying the hair cutter's skill, and of +growing so erratically that "Master Roy's head," was pronounced quite +unmanageable. + +He was not a pretty boy, and was in delicate health, constantly subject +to attacks of bronchitis and asthma, yet his spirit was undaunted, and +as his old nurse often said, "his soul was too strong for his body." + +Dudley, his little cousin, who sat facing him, on the contrary, was a +true specimen of a handsome English boy. Chestnut hair and bright blue +eyes, rosy cheeks, and an upright sturdy carriage, did much to commend +him to every one's favor: yet for force of character and intellect he +came far behind Roy. + +He sat now pondering Roy's words, and kicking his heels against the +wall, whilst his eyes roved over the road on the outside of the garden +and away to a dark pine wood opposite. + +"Here's one coming then," he said, suddenly; "now you'll have to use +it." + +"Who? What? Where?" + +"It's a man; a tramp, a traveller or a highwayman, and he may be all the +lot together! It's an opportunity, isn't it?" + +Roy looked down the narrow lane outside the wall, and saw the figure of +a man approaching. His face lit up with eager resolve. + +"He's a stranger, Dudley; he doesn't belong to the village; we'll ask +him who he is." + +"Hulloo, you fellow," shouted Dudley in his shrill boyish treble; "where +do you come from? You don't belong to this part." + +The man looked up at the boys curiously. + +"And who may ye be, a-wall climbin' and a breakin' over in folks' +gardens to steal their fruit?" + +"Don't you cheek us," said Roy, throwing his head up, and putting on his +most autocratic air; "this is our garden and our wall, and the road +you're walking on is our private road!" + +"Then don't you take to insulting passers-by, or it will be the worse +for ye!" retorted the man. + +The boys were silent. + +"I'm sure he isn't an opportunity," whispered Dudley. + +But Roy would not be disconcerted. + +"Look here," he said, adopting a conciliatory tone; "we're looking out +for an opportunity to do some one some good, and then you came along, +that's why we spoke to you. Now just tell us if we can do it to you." + +"Yes," Dudley struck in: "you seem rather down, do you want anything +that we can give you?" + +The man glanced up at them to see if this was boyish impudence, but the +faces bending down were earnest and grave enough, and he said with a +short laugh,-- + +"Oh, I reckon there be just a few things I'm in want of; but as to your +givin' of them to me that be quite a different matter. Don't suppose ye +carry about jobs ready to hand in yer pockets, nor yet my set of tools +in pawn, nor yet a pint o' beer and a good hunk of bread and meat for a +starvin' feller! May be ye could tell me the way to the nearest pub, and +stand me a drink there!" + +Roy thrust his hand immediately into his pocket, and pulled out amongst +a confused mass of boys' treasures a sixpence. + +"I'll give you this if it will do you good," he said, holding it up +proudly. "I've kept it a whole two days without spending it. It will +give you some beer and bread and cheese, I expect. Is there anything +else we can do for you?" + +"If you go to Mr. Selby, the rector, he'll put you in the way of work," +shouted out Dudley, as the man catching the sixpence flung down to him +slouched off with muttered thanks. + +"No parsons for me," was the rejoinder. + +The boys watched his figure disappear down the road, and then Roy said +reflectively,-- + +"Too many opportunities like that would empty our pockets." + +"And I wonder if it will really do him good," said Dudley; then glancing +over into the garden, he added: "Here comes Aunt Judy, she's calling +us." + +Down the winding gravel path came their aunt; a strikingly handsome +woman. She looked up at her little nephews and laughed when she came to +the wall. + +"Oh, you imps, do you know I've been hunting for you everywhere! You +will have a fall like Humpty Dumpty if you choose such high perches. Now +what comfort can you find, may I ask, in such a blazing breakneck seat? +Do you find broken bottles a soft cushion?" + +"We've cleared those rotten things away here," said Dudley, preparing to +clamber down; "it's our watch tower, and we've a first-rate view, you +just come up and see!" + +"Thank you, I would rather not attempt the climb. What have you been +talking about? Jonathan looks as grave as a judge." + +Roy looked down at his aunt without moving. + +"If you won't laugh or tell granny, we'll tell you, because you never +split if you say you won't." + +"All right, I promise." + +"Well, you see, this morning Mr. Selby gave us this for our copy: 'As ye +have opportunity do good unto all men,' and he told us of a King +somebody--I forget who--who used to write down at the end of each day on +a slate,--if he hadn't done any good to any one,--'I've lost a day.' We +thought it would be a good plan to start this afternoon and see what we +could do. We tried on old Hal first, but he didn't seem to like it. He +was uncovering some of the frames, and so we went and uncovered all of +them, and then he said we had spoilt some of his seedlings, and nearly +went into a fit with rage. I turned the hose on him to cool him down. He +is asleep in the wheelbarrow now; we can see him from here. We really +came up here to get out of his way, his language was awful!" + +"Come down, you monkey. I can't carry on a conversation with you so far +above me. Softly now. Bless the boys, how they can stick their toes into +such a wall is past my comprehension! Granny wants to see you before +your tea, so come along. And who else has been benefited by your good +deeds?" + +They were walking toward the house by this time, each boy hanging on to +one of her arms. It was easy to see the affection between them. + +Dudley eagerly poured out the story of the tramp, and Miss Bertram +listened sympathetically. + +"Never send a man to a public house, boys--and never give him money for +beer. Perhaps he may have come down in the world through love of it. You +know I am always ready to give any one a relief ticket. That's the best +way to help such cases." + +"Yes, but that would be your doing not ours." + +"Money is a difficult way of helping," said Miss Bertram; "don't get +into the habit of thinking money is the only thing that will do people +good. It too often does them harm." + +"Oh, I say! that's hard lines on me, when my last sixpence has gone, and +I was going to get a stunning ball old Principle has in his shop!" + +Miss Bertram laughed at Roy's woe-begone little face. + +"Never mind," she said, consolingly; "your intentions were good, and you +must buy your experience by mistakes as you go through life. Now go into +granny softly, both of you, and talk nicely to her. She will be one +person you can do good to, by brightening her up a little." + +Dudley made a grimace at Roy; but both boys entered the house, and +crept into a cool half-darkened drawing-room on tiptoe, with hushed +voices and sober demeanor. A stern looking old lady sat upright in her +easy chair, knitting busily. She greeted the boys rather coldly. + +"What have you been doing with yourselves? I sent for you some time ago. +Do you not remember that I like you to come to me every afternoon about +this hour?" + +"Yes, granny," said Roy, climbing into an easy chair opposite her; "we +were coming only we didn't know it was so late: we were busy talking." + +"Boys' chatter ought not to come before a grandmother's wishes." + +There was silence; then Dudley struck in boldly: + +"We were talking about good things, granny. It wasn't chatter. Roy and I +are going to look out for opportunities every day of our lives. Do you +think an opportunity is the same as an adventure? I don't think you have +adventures of doing good, do you?" + +"Yes," asserted Roy, bobbing up and down in his chair excitedly; "King +Arthur and his knights did always. They never rode through a wood +without having an adventure, and it was always doing good, wasn't it, +granny?" + +Conversation never slackened when the boys were present, and Mrs. +Bertram, though shrinking at all times from their high spirits and love +of fun, yet looked forward every day to their short visit. She was a +confirmed invalid, and rarely left the house, and her daughter Julia in +consequence took her place as mistress over the household. + +Three years before, Roy and Dudley arrived within a month of each other, +to find a home with their grandmother. Roy, whose proper name was +Fitzroy, came from Canada, both his parents having died out there. +Dudley's father had died when he was a baby, but his mother had married +again in India; and upon her death which occurred not long after, his +stepfather had sent him home to his grandmother. From the first day that +they met, the boys were sworn friends; and their aunt dubbed them +"David" and "Jonathan" after having been an unseen witness of a very +solemn vow transacted between them under the shadow of the pines, only a +week after their meeting. + +Roy's delicate health was a cause of great anxiety to his grandmother, +and if it had not been for Miss Bertram's wise tact and judgment, he +would have been imprisoned in one room and swathed in cotton wool most +of the year round. He had the advantage of having an old nurse who had +brought him up from his birth, and had come from Canada with him; and +she was as vigilant and experienced in managing his ailments as could be +desired. Poor little Roy, with his uncertain health, was heir to a very +large property of his father's not far away; and the responsibilities +awaiting him, and the knowledge that he would have so much power in his +hands, perhaps had the effect of making him weigh life more seriously +than would most boys of his age. + +Later on after their visit to their grandmother was over, and tea had +been finished in the nursery, he wandered into his own little room, and +leaning out of his window, looked up into the clear sky above. + +"I feel so small," was his wistful thought, "and heaven is so big; but +I'll do something big enough to get, 'Well done good and faithful +servant,' said to me when I die, I hope. And I'll try every day till I +do it!" + + + + +II + + +A SONG + +"Come here, boys. I have had some new music from town, and here is a +song that you will like to listen to, I expect." + +It was Miss Bertram who spoke, and her appearance in the nursery just +saved a free fight. Wet afternoons were always a sore trial to the boys: +their mornings were generally spent at the Rectory under Mr. Selby's +tuition, but their afternoons were their own, and it was hard to be kept +within four walls, and expected to make no sound to disturb their +grandmother's afternoon nap. + +The old nurse was nodding in her chair, and her charges with jackets off +and rolled up shirt sleeves were advancing toward each other on tiptoe, +and muttering their threats in wrathful whispers. + +"I'll show you I'm no coddle!" + +"And I'll show you I'm no lazy lubber!" + +At the sound of their aunt's voice they stopped; and each picked up his +jacket with some confusion, Dudley saying contentedly, "All right, old +fellow, pax now, and we'll finish it up to-morrow." + +"Aunt Judy, do let us come into the drawing-room then, and hear you +sing; we're sick of this old nursery, we're too big to be kept here." + +Roy spoke scornfully, but his aunt shook her head at him: + +"Do you know this is the room I love best in the house? Your father and +I used it till we were double your age, and no place ever came up to it +in our estimation. Don't be little prigs and think yourselves men before +you're boys!" + +"Why, Aunt Judy, we've been boys ever since we were born!" + +"I look upon you as infants now," retorted Miss Bertram, laughing. "Come +along--tiptoe past granny's room, please, and no racing downstairs." + +"We'll slide down the rails instead, we always do when granny is +asleep." + +"Not when I am with you, thank you." + +A few minutes afterward, and the boys were standing on either side of +the piano listening with delight to the song that has stirred so many +boyish hearts: + + "'Tis a story, what a story, tho' it never made a noise + Of cherub-headed Jake and Jim, two little drummer boys + Of all the wildest scamps that e'er provoked a sergeant's eye, + They were first in every wickedness, but one thing could not lie, + And they longed to face the music, when the tidings from afar + Brought the news of wild disaster in a wild and savage war. + Said the Colonel, 'How can babies of battle bear the brunt?' + Said the little orphan rascals, 'please Sir, take us to the front! + And we'll play to the men in the far-off land, + When their eyes for home are dim; + If the Indians come, they shall hear our drum + In the van where the fight is grim. + Our lads we know, to the death will go, + If they're led by Jake and Jim.' + + "In the battle, 'mid the rattle, and the deadly hail of lead, + The two were in their glory--What did they know of dread? + And fierce the heathen cry arose across the Indian plain, + And 'twas Home, for the bravest there would never be again, + The raw recruits were restless, and they counted not the cost, + And the Colonel shouted, 'Steady lads, stand fast, or else we're lost.' + A rush! 'twas like an avalanche! a clash of steel and red! + A shock like mountain thunder, then the reg'ment turned and fled. + 'Give me the drum, take the fife,' said Jake, + 'And with all your might and main, + Play the old step now, for the reg'ment's sake + As they scatter along the plain. + We'll play them up to the front once more, + Tho' we never come back again.' + + "Then might the world have seen two little dots in red, + Facing the foe, when the rest had turned and fled! + So young, so brave and gay, while others held their breath, + They played ev'ry inch of the way to meet their death; + And _then_ at last the reg'ment turned, for vengeance ev'ry man + To save the lads they turned and fought as only demons can; + They swept the foe before them across the mountain rim, + But victory that day could never bring back Jake or Jim. + And they silently stood where the children fell, + Not a word of triumph said, + For they knew who had led as they bowed each head, + And looked at the quiet dead; + That the fight was won, and the reg'ment saved, + By those two little dots in red." + +Miss Bertram stole a glance at the boys' faces as she finished singing. + +With a wriggle and a twist Dudley turned his back upon her; but not +before she had seen the blue eyes swimming with tears, and heard a +choking sob being hastily swallowed. Roy stood erect, his little face +quivering with emotion, and his usually pale cheek flushed a deep +crimson, whilst his small determined mouth and chin looked more resolute +and daring than ever. His hands thrust deep in the pockets of his +knickerbockers he looked straight before him and repeated with emphasis, + +"They played every inch of the way to meet their death!" + +"Regular little heroes, weren't they?" said Miss Bertram. + +"Rather," came from Roy's lips, and then without another word he ran out +of the room. + +"Do you like it, David?" Miss Bertram asked, touching Dudley lightly on +the shoulder. + +"No--I--don't--it makes a fellow in a blue funk." And two fists were +hastily brushed across the eyes. + +"Shall I sing you something more cheerful?" + +"No, thanks, not to-night, I think I'll go to Roy." + +And Dudley, too, made his exit, leaving his aunt touched and amused at +the effect of the song. + +An hour after the rain had ceased, and the sun was shining out. Down the +village street walked the two boys enjoying their freedom more soberly +than was their wont. + +"We must, we must, we _must_ be heroes, Dudley!" + +"Yes, if we get a chance." + +"But why shouldn't we have it as well as those two boys. I wonder +sometimes what God meant us to do when He made us! And I'm not going to +be in the dumps because I'm not very strong. For look at Nelson: old +Selby told us he was always very seedy and shaky, always ill; and not +being big in body doesn't matter, for Nelson was a little man and so was +Napoleon, and lots of the great men have been short and stumpy and +hideous! I mean to do something before I die, if only an opportunity +will come! Do you remember the story of the little chap in Holland, who +put his hand in the hole in the sand bank, and kept the whole ocean from +coming in and washing away hundreds of towns and villages? If I could +only do a thing like that, something that would do good to millions of +people; something that would be worth living for! If I could save +somebody's life from fire, or drowning, or some kind of danger! Don't +you long for something of that sort, eh?" + +"I don't know that I do," was the slow response; "but I should like you +to get a chance of it if you want it so much." + +"Oh, wasn't it splendid of those two little chaps--a whole regiment! And +only those two who didn't run away! I think I could stand fire like +that, couldn't you?" + +"I would with you." + +"But I don't expect I'll ever go into the army." This in sorrowful +tones. + +"Why not?" + +"Oh, they'd never have me. I'm too thin round the chest; nurse says I'm +like a bag of bones, and I wouldn't make a smart soldier. Now you'd be a +splendid one, no one could be ashamed of you." + +"Well, I won't go without you." + +"But I'll do something worth living for," repeated Roy, tossing up his +head and giving a stamp as he spoke; "and I'll seize the first +opportunity that comes." + +Dudley was silent. They had now reached the low stone bridge over the +river, a favorite resort amongst all the village boys for fishing; and +quite a little group of them were collected there. Roy and Dudley were +welcomed eagerly as though perhaps at times they were inclined to assume +patronizing and masterful airs; yet their extreme generosity and love +for all country sport made them general favorites with the villagers. + +Roy was soon in the midst of an eager discussion about the best bait for +trout; and was presently startled by a heavy splash over the bridge. +Looking up, to his amazement, he saw Dudley struggling in the water. + +"Help, Roy, I'm drowning!" + +Both boys were capital swimmers, but Roy saw that Dudley seemed +incapable of keeping himself up, and in one second he threw off his +jacket, and dived head foremost off the bridge to the rescue. The +current of the river was strong here, for a mill wheel was only a short +distance off; and it was hard work to swim safely ashore. Roy +accomplished it successfully amidst the cheers of the admiring group on +the bridge; and when once on dry ground again, neither of the boys +seemed the worse for the wetting. In the hubbub that ensued Dubley was +not questioned as to the cause of the accident; but it appeared that his +feet had got entangled in some string and netting that one of the boys +had brought with him to the bridge, and it was this that had prevented +him from swimming. + +"It's awfully nice that I had the chance of helping you," said Roy, as +the two boys were running home as fast as they could to change their +wet clothes; "I didn't hurt you in the water, did I? I believe I gave a +pretty good tug to your hair, I was awfully glad you hadn't had your +hair cut lately." + +"You've saved my life," said Dudley, staring at Roy with a peculiar +gravity; "if you hadn't dashed over to me, I should have been sucked +down by that old wheel, and should have been a dead man by this time. +You've done to-day what you were longing to do." + +"Yes, but I tell you I felt awfully squeamish when I saw you in the +water and thought I might be too late." + +As they neared the house, Roy's pace slackened. + +"Go on, Dudley, and leave me, I can't get on, I believe that horrid old +asthma is coming on, I'll follow slowly." + +"I'm not quite such a cad," was Dudley's retort, and then hoisting Roy +up on his back, as if that mode of proceeding was quite a usual +occurrence, he made his way into the house. + +They crept up to their bedrooms and changed their wet clothes before +they showed themselves to any one. Then Dudley waxed eloquent for the +occasion, and the story was told in drawing-room and servants' hall, +till every one was loud in their praises of the little rescuer. + +"He looks too small to have done it," said Miss Bertram, smiling; for +though Roy was Dudley's senior by two months, he was a good head +shorter. + +Roy got rather impatient under this adulation. + +"Oh, shut up, Dudley, don't be such an ass, as if I could have done +anything else!" + +An hour after, and Roy was sitting up in bed speechless and panting, +with the bronchitis kettle in full play, and nurse trying vainly to +battle with one of his worst bronchial attacks. + +"I say "--he gasped at last; "do you think--I'm going to die--this +time?" + +"Surely no, my pet. It's more asthma than bronchitis; I'll pull you +round, please God." + +Midnight came, and when nurse left the room for a minute she found a +small figure crouched down outside the door. + +It was Dudley. + +"Oh, nurse, he's very bad, isn't he? Is he going to die? What shall I +do! I shall be his murderer, I've killed him!" + +Dudley's eyes were wild with terror, and nurse tried to soothe him. + +"Don't talk nonsense, but go to bed; he'll be better in the morning, I +hope. It's just the wet, and the strain of it that's done it. There's +none to blame. You couldn't help it, and he's been as bad as this +before and pulled through. Go to bed, laddie, and ask God to make him +better." + +Dudley crept back to bed, and flung himself down on his pillows with a +fit of bitter weeping. + +"She says I couldn't help it; oh, God, make him better, make him better, +do forgive me! I never thought of this!" + + + + +III + + +MAKING AN OPPORTUNITY + +It was two days before Dudley was allowed to see the little invalid. The +doctor had been in constant attendance; but all danger was over now, and +Roy as usual was rapidly picking up his strength again. + +"His constitution has wonderful rallying powers," the old doctor said; +"he is like a bit of india rubber!" + +It seemed to Dudley that Roy's face had got wonderfully white and small; +and there was a weary worn look in his eyes, as he turned round to greet +him. + +"Now sit down and talk to him, but don't let him do the talking," was +nurse's advice as she left the boys together. + +Dudley sat down by the bed, and squeezed hold of the little hand held +out to him. + +"I'm so sorry, old chap," he said, nervously; "do you feel really +better? I've been so miserable." + +"I'm first-rate now," was the cheerful response; "it's awfully nice +getting your breath back again; it's only made me feel a little tired, +that's all!" + +"It was all me!" + +"Why that has been my comfort," said Roy, with shining eyes; "I felt +when I was very bad, that if I died, I might have lived for something. +It would have been lovely to die for you, Dudley--at least you know to +have got myself ill from that reason; it's so very tame when I get bad +from nothing at all; but I'm well again now, so I know God is letting me +live to do something else!" + +"I was the one that ought to have been made ill to punish me," blurted +out Dudley, and then he was silent. + +Roy's eyes rested on his flushed face with some wonder. + +"It wasn't wicked of you to fall into the river; you couldn't help it." + +A crimson flush crept over Dudley's face up to the very roots of his +hair; he picked the fringe of the counterpane restlessly between his +fingers, and kicked his heels against the legs of his chair. Silence +again: Roy looked steadily at him; and then an expression of +astonishment and bewilderment flitted across his face, followed by one +of strange, conviction. + +"Dudley, look at me." + +Roy's tone was peremptory, but Dudley never moved, until the command was +given in a sharper tone. Then he raised his head, but his blue eyes had +a guilty harassed look in them, and he dropped them quickly again. + +"It's no good; I've found you out. Did you tie up your feet like that +yourself?" + +After a minute, in a sepulchral tone, came the words, "Yes, when you +weren't looking!" + +Roy lay back on his pillows with a sigh. + +A little disappointment mingled with his feelings which were somewhat +mixed. After a pause, he said, "You _are_ a good fellow! To think of +doing that for me! What would you have done if I hadn't jumped in to +save you?" + +Then Dudley raised his head: + +"I knew you wouldn't fail me," he said, triumphantly; "I knew I could +trust you!" + +Roy put out his thin little arm and drew Dudley's bonny face down by the +side of his on the pillow. + +"I don't think," he whispered, "that even I could have been plucky +enough to do that--not in sight of that old mill wheel!" + +Neither spoke for a few minutes; then Dudley said, + +"I should have been your murderer if you had died. That has been the +worst of it. But you did like saving a drowning fellow, didn't you?" + +"Ye-es, but it wasn't quite real--at least it isn't as if you really had +tumbled in by accident." + +"Well but I only did what you said we must do. I made an opportunity." + +And after this remark Roy had nothing more to say; but neither he nor +Dudley ever enlightened any one as to the true cause of the accident. + +When Roy had quite recovered, the two boys set out one afternoon to +visit their greatest friend in the village. This was the old man every +one called "old Principle." He lived by himself in a curious +three-cornered house at the extreme end of the village, and kept a +little general shop where everything but eatables could be obtained. + +"I keep every article that man, woman, or child can want for their use, +for their homes, their work or their play; but food and drink I will not +cater for. It's against my principles to sell perishable goods, and I +will not be the one to minister to the very lowest animal wants of my +fellow creatures." + +This was his favorite speech, from which it may be judged he was +somewhat of a character. + +He had several hobbies, and was a well-read man and superior to those +around him; and perhaps this was the cause of his holding himself aloof +from most of the villagers. They termed him "cranky and cracked," but +his goods were always acceptable, and he was thoroughly successful in +his business. When his shop was closed he would go out on the hills, +and there spend his time studying geology and botany. He knew the name +of every plant and insect, and the strata of the earth for many miles +round; and it was out of doors that the boys first made his +acquaintance. + +They found him on this afternoon seated behind his counter mending an +eight-day clock. + +"Well, old Principle, how are you?" said Roy, climbing up to the counter +and sitting comfortably on it with his legs dangling in mid air; "we +haven't seen you for ages." + +"Are you going out this evening?" enquired Dudley, as he proceeded to +follow Roy's example. + +"To be sure, when my work is done," responded the old man pushing up his +spectacles and regarding the boys with kindly eyes; "these light +evenings are my delight, as you know. If you sit still till I have +finished this clock, I will show you a treasure I found yesterday." + +"Can you mend everything?" asked Roy, curiously; "I never knew you +understood about clocks." + +"I've learned to mend most things," was the answer; "it isn't given to +every one to make, and I'm one of the menders in the world not the +makers. There's one thing I can't mend--and that is broken hearts." + +There was silence: Roy broke it at last by saying with knitted brow, +"I'd rather be a maker than a mender, but lots of people aren't either." + +"Quite right," nodded the old man; "most folk are breakers." + +"I wish I was as clever as you," said Dudley; "you mend umbrellas, and +kettles, and plates, and windows, and gates, and all sorts. How did you +learn?" + +"Well, I ain't ashamed of owning that my father was just a travelling +tinker, and when I was a little fellow I used to go round with him and +see him do most things. It was from travelling through the country I +learned to love it so. And my father, he was a thoughtful man, and when +I used to ask where the tin came from, and where the iron and where the +lead, he took to learning of it up so that he could answer me; and then +I came to find that most of our comforts come from underground, and so I +fell to digging. Ah, youngsters, earth is a wonderful treasure house!" + +The clock was done. Old Principle put it carefully by and then mounted +on some wooden steps, and took down a tin saucepan. The boys knew the +shelf well; as though apparently it was just a row of tinware for sale, +many a pot and pan held treasures that geologists would have given a +great deal to possess. + +Now when old Principle held out a peculiar shaped stone with loving +pride, Roy and Dudley pressed forward to look at it. + +"I know, it's a Roman hammer," shouted out Dudley. + +"It's a Saxon jug," suggested Roy. + +"It's part of a jaw of a mammoth many thousands of years old, and there +are two teeth in perfect preservation," old Principle said solemnly. + +"Where did you find it?" + +"Ah, you must come and see! In a cave that I have only just discovered, +and which must originally have been by the side of a river. I'll take +you there to-night if you can get permission to come." + +Nothing delighted the boys more than an expedition with old Principle. +They promised to be down at his shop punctually at half-past seven that +evening, and then the conversation drifted into other channels. + +"Old Principle, do you think we ought to make opportunities?" questioned +Dudley, presently; "Roy thinks we ought, and I did make one the other +day, but it didn't turn out well." + +"Ay, Master Roy is always for making," said the old man with a smile; +"he will try and cram his life with what will come fast enough +naturally, if he only waits." + +"But will it?" questioned Roy, flushing up with eagerness; "do you +think it will? I'm longing to do something big and grand and good; I +mayn't live to grow up you know, and I'm sure we're meant to do +something when we're boys." + +"We're trying to do good to all men as we have opportunity," said +Dudley, gravely. + +"Ay, stick to that, boys, and you'll succeed. There's none too small to +be true philanthropists." + +"What is a philanthropist?" asked Roy. + +"A man who benefits his fellow creatures. 'Tis a good principle to keep +in mind." + +"But it's difficult for boys to do grown-up people good. They always do +boys good." + +"Now look here, Master Roy. I've lived and learned where you haven't, +and I try and pass my principles on to you. That's how I do you good. +You come to me and take what I give you and seeing you act out the +advice I offers you does me good. You do me good too, every time you +comes to see me; it's cheery to hear and see you." + +"But that's very tame for us," said Roy, a little scornfully. + +"Oh, well, if your own likes must come into the question, it's a +different story! I didn't know it mattered about our feelings as long as +the good is done! 'Tis a bad principle to try to please others only when +it pleases ourselves." + +Roy looked a little ashamed of himself. He said no more on the subject, +and shortly after he and Dudley ran home to tea. + +They were very disappointed when their aunt refused to let them go out +again that evening. + +"It is too damp a night for Jonathan to be wandering through wet grass +and bog. You can go, David, if you like, but he must wait for another +opportunity." + +"I shan't go without Roy," said Dudley, sturdily. + +"We'll come and make a cave in the attic," suggested Roy, trying to be +cheerful. + +And for the rest of that evening they were absorbed in making a great +dust and racket amongst lumber boxes far away from their grandmother's +hearing. + + + + +IV + + +AN AWKWARD VISIT + +"And how do you know a river has been here?" + +"By the soil and by the relics I have found. Look at this fossil. Do you +see the outline of the fish? Fish don't live on dry ground." + +"There might have been a fishman passing by who dropped one out of his +cart." + +Old Principle laughed at Dudley's sceptical notion, and went on +shovelling out earth with great alacrity. It was Saturday afternoon: old +Principle had shut up his shop and taken the boys up to the hills +surrounding the little village, where in a ravine between two +precipitous crags, in the midst of a green bower of ferns and moss, he +was hard at work excavating an old cave that had been buried for many +years out of sight. + +Dudley and Roy were eagerly helping and chattering as only boys know +how. + +"This little ravine has been formed by a mountain stream rushing down," +continued the old man, resting on his spade for a minute; "'tis a good +principle, Master Dudley, to trust grown-up folks' knowledge better than +your own." + +[Illustration: "Old Principle laughed at Dudley's notion."] + +"I wish," said Roy, reflectively, "that this cave was nearer home; it +would be so lovely to come out whenever we wanted to, wouldn't it, Dudley? +Perhaps some king has hidden away in it, or soldier when he was pursued +by his enemies!" + +"Hulloo," said Dudley, looking up the hill; "here is such a funny +looking woman coming down with a donkey, her skirt is nearly up to her +knees, and she has a man's boots on." + +Old Principle paused in his work, and in a minute or two greeted the +newcomer. + +"Good-afternoon, Mrs. Cullen, how's your husband to-day?" + +"Badly, very badly, but I's forced to leave he. I lock the door and put +the key in me pocket, for I's bin up the hill yonner cuttin' peat sin +seven o'clock this mornin'. He do get awfu' lonesome, he say, an' if me +niece hadn't a married and gone to 'Merica, I should have kept she to +tend him." + +"Who is she?" asked Roy, as after a few more words the woman moved on. + +"She lives at the bottom of the hill over there. Her husband has been +ill of consumption these last two years, and she works to support them +both. She's a hard-working woman, is Martha Cullen; she works in the +fields harvesting just now; if I could feel I'd be welcome I would go to +sit with her husband sometimes, but she's very queer, she won't let a +neighbor come near him, I have tried more than once. It seems hard on +him to be bedridden there day after day without a soul to speak to; or +any one to give him a drink!" + +Roy gazed thoughtfully after the retreating figure of the woman, and +then turned his attention again to the cave. + +When an hour later he and Dudley were walking home footsore, and rather +dirty, but with little bundles of treasures from the cave in their +grubby hands, he startled his cousin by saying-- + +"To-morrow we'll go and see Martha Cullen's husband. It's an opportunity +for us." + +"How shall we get in?" queried Dudley. + +"Climb in at the window. She told old Principle she would be out all day +at Farmer Stubbs. We'll go and do him good." + +"How?" + +"We'll wash his face, and make him a cup of tea, and sweep his room, and +give him his medicine," responded Roy, readily; "that's what nurse does +when she goes to visit any of Aunt Judy's sick people." + +Dudley did not look as if he relished the prospect before him. + +"That's girls' and women's work," he said; "boys needn't do that kind of +thing." + +Roy flushed up angrily. + +"All right, if you don't want to come, stay at home. It is a week since +we started to do good when the opportunity came, and we haven't done any +good to any one. I'm not going to waste any more time." + +Then after a pause he added, "Besides I think it will be rather fun +breaking into a strange cottage; we may have to get down the chimney." + +At this Dudley's face cleared. + +"I'll come," he said; "we'll go directly after dinner." + +"And we'll stow away a little of our pudding to take him--sick people +always have puddings." + +They had no difficulty in carrying out this plan. They always dined in +the nursery, and if nurse wondered at the amount of pudding that her +charges managed to consume that day, her old eyes were not sharp enough +to detect the transfer from plates to pockets. She sent them out into +the garden to play, and they soon were scampering out of the back gate +and along the road toward the little cottage at the bottom of the hill. + +It was a warm afternoon, and when they at length came near it they threw +themselves down on the grass to rest. + +"We mustn't frighten the old man," said Dudley, gazing at the thatched +cottage with a critical eye. "I see the windows are tight shut in +front, but there's one open at the side; we must creep up very quietly +and get in before he sees us, and then we can explain who we are." + +"And if the window won't do, we'll try the chimney, it looks a jolly big +one." + +Then after a pause-- + +"I suppose he'll be glad to see us?" + +"Of course he will. He must be dreadfully dull all alone." + +A few minutes after, they were holding a whispered consultation outside +a small pantry window through which Roy was going to squeeze himself. + +"I'll go first. It will be a tight fit for you, Dudley, but I'll give +you a good pull through, and you must hold your breath well in." + +"It's a kind of housebreaking," Dudley said, ripples of fun passing over +his face; "I don't mind visiting sick people if we go in at their +windows like this!" + +But Roy's little face was full of anxious gravity and purpose, and he +checked Dudley's inclination to laugh at once. + +He accomplished his part successfully, and then poor Dudley was hauled +and pulled at till purple in the face, and breathless with exertion, he +exclaimed, "I'm being squashed to a jelly; let go, I can't do it!" + +"Just one more try--now then--there, we've done it!" + +But Roy's exclamation of delight was drowned in an awful crash, as +Dudley swept off some shelves a bowl of milk, two plates, and a cup of +soup, and fell to the ground himself in the midst of it all. + +Immediately a man's voice called out, "Who's there! Hi! Help! Thieves! +Help!" + +Roy darted into the kitchen, and confronted a tall, hollow-cheeked man +who had scrambled out of his bed in the chimney corner, and stood +trembling from head to foot clutching hold of the bed-post, and coughing +violently. + +He did not seem at all appeased at the sight of the boys, but shook his +fist at them in a paroxysm of fright and rage. + +"Go away, you young blackguards--a robbin' honest folk, and a darin' to +show yer impudent faces, and disturbin' a dyin' man, knowin' as he's too +bad to give yer the hidin' ye desarve!" + +Roy was quite taken aback. + +"You're quite mistaken--let us explain--we've come to see you and do you +good. Don't you know who we are? We live at the Manor. Look--get back +into bed again, you'll take cold. We've brought you some pudding." + +Here a parcel of currant pudding was taken out of his jacket pocket and +held out temptingly. + +"A' don't believe a word! Ye've been in the pantry a smashin' the +missus' things, and a eatin' and a drinkin' all ye can lay hands +on--begone, I tell ye!" + +"That was me," put in Dudley, edging up to the irate invalid; "you see +the door was locked and we had to come in at the window, and I'm rather +fat about the shoulders, and Roy jerked me through too quick and I fell +amongst some plates. But we really haven't stolen anything, we aren't +robbers!" + +"Begone, ye rascals!" repeated the old man, and then such a violent fit +of coughing took possession of him that he sank back on his bed +perfectly exhausted and helpless, waving them away and shaking his head +at them when they tried to approach him. + +Dudley looked doubtfully at Roy. + +"I'm afraid we aren't doing him any good," he said, slowly. "He won't +let us." + +"No," was Roy's response, "we must go, I suppose. He is a foolish, +stupid old man, or he would listen to us and let us explain." + +Then advancing again to the sick man Roy said slowly and solemnly, +"You'll be very sorry one day when you know how you've treated us, and +we shall never, never try to see you again, or bring you pudding or +comfort you, _never_! If you had let us, we should have washed your +face and hands, and made you some gruel, and given you your medicine, +and then sat down by your bed and talked nicely to you, but you won't +let us do you good, so we shall leave you, and if you're lonely locked +in here all day with no one to speak to, it's your own fault!" + +Then holding his head up bravely, Roy marched out of the kitchen, and +Dudley followed him with some misgivings as to his exit again by the +pantry window. But Roy solved this difficulty. + +"Look here, the key is in the back door; we will unlock it and get out +properly. I'm sorry we've smashed those plates." + +They walked home in the deepest dejection; as they went through the +village there met them on the bridge the same man that had passed them +when on the garden wall. He was much the worse for drink, and seemed +inclined to be quarrelsome. + +"Look 'ee here now, I'll just trouble 'ee to give me another sixpence, +young gent, or I'll help myself, and no nonsense, for I'm the feller for +fightin'!" + +He stood barring their way, lurching from side to side, and brandishing +a stick in his hand. + +Neither of the boys were daunted. Dudley shouted out, + +"Let us by at once, or we'll make you! You'd better look out how you +cheek us!" + +And Roy in a moment had his jacket off, and was rolling up his shirt +sleeves. + +"Come on, Dudley, we'll lick him into shape, if he dares to touch us!" + +What might have befallen our two little heroes cannot be told, for at +this critical juncture the rector came up, and in stern, commanding +tones ordered the man on. + +"That stamp of man is a pest in the place," he said; "he won't be +influenced for good but hangs about the ale-houses and lives on the +proceeds of his begging. If people only knew the harm they do in giving +him money instead of a little honest work! Well, boys, run along home, +it's a good thing I came up to stop a free fight. How do you think you +two atoms could have got the better of a man like that? 'Discretion is +the better part of valor' remember. Keep your fists for a good cause. +And never entice a drunken man to fight. It is a degrading spectacle." + +Saying which Mr. Selby passed on, and Roy and Dudley walked home without +saying a word to each other. + +By the time they had finished their tea, they recovered their spirits, +and were in the midst of an exciting game of cricket in a field +adjoining the house with the old coachman and the stable-boy, when a +summons came to them from the house to come in at once to their aunt. + +"What's up, I wonder!" exclaimed Dudley, as he raced Roy up to the front +door; "Aunt Judy never sends for us at dinner time." + +They found their aunt in the library. She was in her dinner dress and +the dinner gong was sounding in the hall, but her face was puzzled as +she turned from a woman talking to her, to the boys. + +"My nephews are little gentlemen; you must be mistaken," she was saying. + +Roy and Dudley recognized the woman immediately. It was Mrs. Cullen, and +their hearts sank. + +"Come here, boys," Miss Bertram said; "I have been hearing a strange +story from Mrs. Cullen, of two boys breaking into her house while she +was away this afternoon, frightening her dying husband so much that the +doctor fears he won't outlive the night, and breaking, and stealing +things from her pantry. She insists upon it that it was you; her husband +told her so, but I cannot believe it. You would have no object in +behaving so wickedly." + +Dudley's cheeks were crimson, and he hung his head in shame. Roy, as +usual, was not daunted. + +"It's all a great mistake, Aunt Judy, we never stole a thing; we went +to see him and take him some pudding and do him good. We had to get in +at the pantry window because the doors were all locked, and we did spill +some milk and some soup, and broke a few plates. We couldn't make him +understand we weren't robbers, so we came away again--and we're very +sorry." + +Mrs. Cullen turned furiously upon them, and her language was so abusive, +that Miss Bertram sent the boys away, and brought the poor woman to +reason by quiet, persuasive words. + +"I will enquire into the matter. I cannot quite understand their motive; +boys are thoughtless, and perhaps their intentions were good. I know +they will be extremely sorry at the result of their visit. If you come +with me to the housekeeper she will give you some good, strong soup for +your husband. I will come and see him myself the first thing to-morrow +morning." + +It was not till after she had dined with her mother, that Miss Bertram +sent for her little nephews again, and then she gave them a severer +scolding than they had received from her for a long time. They crept up +to bed that night feeling very woe-begone. + +"I'm sure we'd better give up these opportunities," said Dudley, +disconsolately, as they paused at an old staircase window on their way +to their rooms; "you see this is the third one, and they all turn out +badly. There was that tramp who must have got drunk with your sixpence, +and then there was saving me, and that made you so awfully ill, and now +here's this old fellow that perhaps we shall make die. It all goes +wrong, somehow." + +Roy looked out of the window with knitted brow. + +"I was thinking of that King--Bruce--who saw the spider try three times +and then succeed. We must try again, that's all! I shan't give up yet. +It is really a big opportunity I'm looking for!" + +And Roy laid his head down on the pillow that night, steadfastly +purposing to continue his role of benefiting the human race. + + + + +V + + +A LOST DONKEY + +Fortunately for the boys, John Cullen got over his fright and took a +turn for the better, but Miss Bertram began to exercise more control +over their many spare hours. She took them out driving with her in the +afternoon, or expeditions by foot; sometimes to some farmhouse to tea, +sometimes to some neighboring squire who had young ones to entertain +them. And Dudley in his happy, careless way soon put all thoughts of +improved opportunities out of his head. He was ready enough to put into +action any proposal of Roy's, but left alone he was perfectly content to +enjoy himself in his own easy fashion; and Roy seemed to be willing to +let the matter rest, as he never now alluded to it. + +But one morning two or three weeks later, as the boys were returning +from the Rectory with their satchels in their hands, they met an old man +they knew in deep distress. + +"What's the matter, Roger?" asked Roy; "why are you muttering away and +shaking your head so?" + +"Ay, young master, I be in a sorrowful plight. My donkey has strayed +away and I cannot find she nowheres. I've been up over the hills, and +not a sign of she! And it's to-morrow that's market day, and how I'm to +get my veggetubbles to town is more'n I can tell 'ee!" + +"She can't be lost; when did you have her last?" + +"'Twas yest'day mornin'. Ay, she be just a kickin' up her heels miles +away and a laughin' at her poor old master. She be a terrible beast for +strayin', and I just let her out on the green for a bit thinkin' to give +her a pleasure, and that's how she treats me, the ungrateful creature! I +heerd she were seen on the hills, but I'm a weary of trampin' up and +down 'em." + +"We'll go out on the hills and look for her this afternoon," said Roy, +eagerly. + +"If Aunt Judy will let us," added Dudley. + +But Miss Bertram having gone out to lunch with some friends could not be +asked, so the two boys set out after their early dinner with light +hearts. + +"It's doing old Roger good, and ourselves too," said Roy; "I'm longing +to have a good outing, and we needn't be back very early, for granny +isn't well enough to see us to-day, nurse said." + +It was a delicious afternoon for a ramble; a soft breeze was blowing, +and the sun was not unpleasantly strong. The boys did a good deal of +looking for the missing donkey, but also managed to combine with that a +few other things, such as bird-nesting, picking wild strawberries, and +enjoying themselves as only boys can, when roaming about in the open +air. At last rather late in the afternoon they spied in the distance a +donkey, and delighted to think their quest was at an end, they hastened +up to it. + +Dudley had brought some carrots in his pocket, but the donkey was +utterly indifferent to such a dainty; she waited till the boys were +nearly up to her, and then with a kick up of her heels away she +galloped, evidently enjoying the chase. + +"Won't I give her a licking when I catch her," shouted Dudley, +wrathfully, as after a long and tiring race, they stopped a minute to +rest; "let us leave her and go home, Roy. I'm sure it's tea time, for I +feel dreadfully hungry, and we're miles and miles away. I've never been +so far before." + +"Oh, we mustn't give up," Roy replied, with his usual determination; "we +won't be beaten by an old donkey, and when we do catch her, we will both +get on her back and ride her home. Come on, let us have another try!" + +"We haven't got a halter, that's the worst of it." + +[Illustration: "'Now then, you rascals, what are you doing to my +donkey?'"] + +But Dudley plucked up courage, and in another half hour they were +successful; Roy seated on the donkey's back, and Dudley holding firmly +to her tail. + +"Now then--away with you--hip--hip--hurray!" + +Away they tore, both donkey and boys in best of spirits now: but before +long they were brought to a standstill. A man brandishing a huge stick +sprang out in front of them. + +"Now then, you rascals, what are you doing to my donkey? Get off it this +instant!" + +"It isn't your donkey, it's old Roger's, and we're taking it home to +him. Don't you cheek us! You're a rascal yourself!" + +Dudley spoke angrily, but as he noticed the donkey stop instantly, and +begin to sidle up toward the man an awful fear smote him, and Roy added +quietly, + +"You see you may be a thief or any one, for all we know, and it isn't +likely we're going to let you have the chance of stealing old Roger's +donkey. You go away and leave us alone. We're going home now--Gee-up. +Come on, Dudley." + +Not an inch would the donkey stir; and the man with a laugh, slipped a +halter out of his pocket and in another minute Roy was rolling on the +grass, and the donkey was being led off in the opposite direction. + +"You may think yourselves lucky to escape the thrashing ye desarves!" +shouted out the man; "ye've given me a nice chase after my beast for the +last hour, and ye needn't add a pack of lies to your wicked pranks!" + +The boys sat down on the grass to consider their position. + +"Well, I call it beastly rot," grumbled Dudley, thoroughly cross; "if +that's his donkey I don't believe old Roger's is on the hills at all. It +must have been this one that somebody saw, and now I come to think of it +Roger's has a black stripe down her back, and this one hadn't!" + +"I'm so awfully tired," said Roy, disconsolately; "we've done no good as +usual. I don't believe we ever shall do any one any good!" + +When Roy's spirits sank it was a bad case, and for some minutes there +was silence between them. Then feeling they must make the best of it +they scrambled to their feet and plodded slowly on in the direction of +home. A heavy mist was falling by this time, and dusk was setting in. +Roy began to cough, and at last in despair Dudley cried out, "I do +believe we're lost; I don't know where the path is, and I'm sure this +isn't the way we came!" + +"Well," said Roy, gasping as he spoke; "I'm afraid this old mist is +getting into my chest, and I can't go very fast when my breath gets +short. What shall we do? Can you shout--p'raps that man with the donkey +might hear us." + +Dudley shouted and shouted till he was hoarse, and then the little +fellows trudged wearily on. + +"You see," said Roy, bravely; "we must get somewhere if we go straight +on." + +"I believe," said Dudley, in doleful tones; "that you get right round +the world and come back to where you started, if you only walk straight +enough!" + +This depressing view did not comfort his cousin. + +"I've always thought it would be very exciting to be lost," Roy said +with a sigh; "but it doesn't seem very nice, does it? And it is so cold. +I wonder if we shall meet with any adventures, lost people generally +do." + +"If we could come into a gipsies' camp with a huge fire and a pot of +stewed hares, it would be stunning! Or if we could find old Principle's +cave, that would be better still!" + +They were stumbling on, Roy gasping and panting for breath, and Dudley +every minute or two giving a shout, when suddenly almost as if he had +risen from the ground, a lad appeared in front of them. + +"We're lost," shouted Dudley; "who are you? Can you tell us where +Crockton village is?" + +"Ay, can't I! You're only about four mile off!" + +"Is it straight on?" questioned Roy, wistfully. + +"No, you're goin' away from it." + +The lad stood looking down at the two small boys and there was some pity +in his tone. + +"The little 'un is dead beat. Here--let me hoist you on my back, I'd as +lief go to Crockton as anywhere else to-night, and I know every inch of +these hills, I've been looking after cattle here since I were a babby! +There now, ain't that better?" + +Roy was too tired out to resist, though he made a faint protest, and +Dudley seeing him comfortably settled on the broad shoulders of the lad, +trotted along contentedly by his side. + +"How did you find us? Did you hear us shouting?" + +"I was trapping some moles close to yer, as ye came on." + +"Where do you live? And what's your name?" + +"I'm called Rob. I don't live nowheres now. Got chucked out last night!" + +And Rob gave a short laugh as he spoke. + +"Where from?" + +"Well, you see there's a lot of us, and the old woman--she's my +stepmother--she told me she wouldn't keep me no longer. My father--he +died last year, and work is hard to get. I'll tramp into some town and +try my luck there." + +"Then where were you going to sleep to-night?" + +"Sleep? Oh, bless yer--there's plenty o' room and accommodation in the +open. And I haven't been about these parts for so long without knowing +many a snug corner. I could show yer plenty a one. My pet one has been +found out by some old chap lately. He goes into it and digs up +quantities o' stones and then sits and hugs them, all as if they was +gold! I laugh to see him sometimes!" + +"Why that must be old Principle, and that's the cave he thinks so much +of! He looks for bones." + +Rob gave another of his hearty laughs. + +"Well, if he has a taste that way, why don't he go to a churchyard, +he'll dig to more success there." + +"No, it's only animals' bones he likes, very, very old ones." + +They tramped on, and then Roy asked if he could be put down, and Dudley +given a lift instead. Rob good-naturedly assented, but some minutes were +spent in altercation between the two boys before Dudley would consent +to this arrangement. + +"You're as tired as I am," persisted Roy. + +"Oh, no, I'm not--at least it's only my legs. You see I haven't a chest +like you. I'll manage, it's always you that gets home ill, I never do." + +"I can't help it," said Roy, in a shaky voice; "I know I shall never be +good for anything, I don't think I'm much better than a girl, I suppose +I ought to have been made one." + +Roy was always in the depths of misery when he came to this climax, and +Dudley hastened to reassure him. + +"Rot! You're as good a walker as I any day. Yes, I'll have a ride on +your back, Rob, if you like. I'm nearly done for, and Roy looks quite +fresh again." + +There was great commotion when the trio reached the Manor at last. Miss +Bertram came out into the hall to greet them with an anxious face. + +"Oh, you scamps! You'll turn my hair grey before long. Where have you +been? Half the village has turned out to look for you! What mischief +have you been up to?" + +When the explanation was given Miss Bertram gave a little groan. + +"If we are going to have these kind of expeditions, I really must insist +upon your leaving off trying to do other people good. Old Roger told me +he found his donkey quite early in the afternoon. Now come off to bed +both of you. I believe nurse is already getting her poultice ready in +anticipation of a bad night, Jonathan!" + +"What is Rob going to do?" Roy asked, shortly after, when he was +comfortably tucked up in bed, and was enjoying a hot basin of bread and +milk. Miss Bertram had just come in to see how he was. + +"Is that the lad that brought you back? He is having a good supper in +the kitchen, and then will go home, I suppose." + +"But he hasn't any home," said Roy, putting down his spoon and looking +at his aunt with an anxious face; "he can't get work, so his mother +turned him out of doors, and I want him to come and live with us, and +when I grow up he shall be my servant!" + +Miss Bertram laughed. + +"My dear boy, not quite so fast. I shall not turn him out to-night, if +he has no home to go to; but we cannot keep a lot of idle boys about the +establishment." + +Roy's brown eyes filled with tears. It was so rarely that he showed his +feelings that his aunt began to wonder whether he was not too weak and +exhausted from his walk to be talked to. + +"Don't worry your little head over him," she said, kindly; "go to +sleep, and I'll let you see him to-morrow morning." + +"Have you ever been lost, Aunt Judy?" + +Roy was struggling for self-command, and his voice was very quiet. + +"No, I'm thankful to say I never have." + +"I prayed to God," he went on solemnly; "that He would send some one to +show us the way home, and Rob was the answer. And when he took me up on +his shoulders and I knew he was taking me home, I thought of that +picture over there!" + +Roy pointed to a print of the Good Shepherd with the lost sheep across +his shoulders, and Miss Bertram's face softened as she stooped and +kissed her little nephew. + +"Good-night dear. We will see what can be done." + +She left the room and when nurse came bustling up to see if the bread +and milk had disappeared she found her little charge gazing dreamily in +front of him. + +"Come, dearie, eat your supper. Don't you feel easier?" + +"I was thinking," Roy said, slowly bringing back his gaze to the basin +before him; "that if you're very strong you miss a lot of comfort; and +however big and strong I grow up to be, I hope I shan't be too big and +strong to be carried by Him!" + +He pointed to the picture again, and good old nurse responded, + +"If you outgrow the Lord, you'll outgrow heaven!" + + + + +VI + + +ROB + +Roy was not allowed to go to the Rectory the next morning as it was +rather damp, and nurse was carefully trying to ward off a bronchial +attack, but he was permitted to see Rob, and the latter came in looking +rather sheepish and as if he did not know what to do with his hands and +his feet. + +"What are you going to do, Rob?" asked Roy, eagerly, after their first +greetings had been exchanged; "you aren't going home again?" + +"I'd sooner be shot," was the short reply. + +"I've been talking to Aunt Judy about you again this morning, and she +says if you would like to help our old gardener in the garden and could +get a character from some one, she'd try you. I don't quite know what +she means about the character. I thought that belonged to you and not to +any one else. She says she doesn't know what you're like, but I told her +I'd find out. I say, take a chair, won't you. Now then, you don't mind +my asking you a few questions, do you? Are you a thief?" + +Rob took the chair that was offered him, squared his shoulders, and +looked up with a pleasant smile at this blunt question. + +"No, I ain't that." + +"Have you ever killed anybody?" + +"No." + +"Are you a drunkard?" + +"I hate the stuff!" + +"Are you a fighter?" + +"Well, no, not a reg'lar one. I can't say I've never knocked a feller +down, or squared up with him a bit, but I don't fight till I'm driven to +it." + +"Are you a liar?" + +"No." + +Roy drew a sigh of relief, then continued: "Well, if you aren't any of +those, I'm sure Aunt Judy will have you, I told her I knew you weren't +wicked." + +"But I ain't no scholar," said Rob, doubtfully; "I can't write nor read, +and that's against a feller!" + +"Oh, well, you won't have to read and write much in the garden. Old Hal +can't read either, and he makes a cross for his name when he has to +write it. But I suppose you can learn, can't you?" + +Rob nodded. + +"You see I played truant mostly when I was sent to school, and then I +began to mind the cattle soon after I were eight year old, but if any +body would start me, I believe I could pick it up." + +"I'll teach you myself when I've nothing else to do," said Roy, grandly; +"for I want you to be clever. I want you to come with me, when I'm grown +up, to my big house. You shall be my head servant, and live with me +always. Would you like that?" + +Rob grinned, and seemed to think it a great joke. + +Roy continued: "Of course I shall want you more when Dudley goes away. +He has got a stepfather, so when he grows up he will go out to India, I +expect, to live with him, but we don't talk of it, and we pretend we're +never going to leave each other. Did you find Dudley very much heavier +to carry than me?" + +"Well, yes, he were a bit heavier." + +"I'm afraid I shall never catch him up, he is nearly a head taller, and +he seems to grow quicker every month. I grow so slowly. I think it is +because I lie in bed so much more than he does, I'm always having to go +to bed in the daytime when I'm ill, and that must keep you from growing, +don't you think so?" + +The conversation was here interrupted by Miss Bertram's entrance. She +had a long talk with Rob, and in the end took him for a month on trial, +as she had known his father. + +The boys were delighted, but Roy still persisted in regarding him as +his special protege, and more than once this had occasioned a heated +argument between the two cousins. + +"He doesn't belong to you. You order him about as if he were your +servant," said Dudley, impatiently, one afternoon after Roy had sent Rob +on more than one errand to the house for him. + +"Well, so he will be one day," returned Roy, flushing up. + +They were seated again in their favorite corner on the wall, some ripe +plums having just been handed up to them by the obliging Rob, and Dudley +having put an extra big one in his mouth was speechless for a moment. + +"I suppose you'll get so fond of Rob, that you won't want me any +longer," he said, after some consideration. + +"Rob is my servant, but you're a friend and relation," asserted Roy. + +"He is an opportunity, and a pretty big one, isn't he?" + +"Why, yes; I never thought of that! How splendid!" + +Roy's large eyes were shining, and he gazed with tender pride at Rob who +was now sweeping the lawn. + +"We have done him good already, haven't we?" pursued Dudley, +reflectively; "only he started by doing us good. I tell you what we +might do for him. Teach him to read." + +Roy looked very doubtful. + +"It is so difficult, and he seems so stupid. I did try the other day, +for he asked me to; but I never thought any body _could_ be so stupid! I +told him we would have to give it up, for it made me lose my temper so. +I thought perhaps he could go to old Principle. You see he is too big +for school, but old Principle is always saying he likes to teach people +things." + +"Well, that is awfully funny," said Dudley, pointing down to the pine +woods opposite them. "Talk of him and there he is! Isn't that him +walking along over there? Look--now he's stooping down to look at +something. I'm sure it's old Principle; we'll call him!" + +Two shrill boyish voices rang out, "Old Principle! Hi! We want you! Old +Principle!" + +Soon after old Principle was standing beneath the wall, having obeyed +the summons. + +He stood looking up at them with his straw hat pushed to the back of his +head, and his keen, piercing eyes twinkling kindly under his thick, +shaggy eyebrows. + +"Well, laddies, you're above me now. 'Tisn't often you can look down at +old Principle from such a superior height." + +"We want to ask you if we may send Rob down to you for you to teach him +to read," said Roy, eagerly. + +"And why have not two idle boys more time than a busy shopkeeper to do +such a thing?" demanded the old man. + +"Oh, well, you see," explained Roy, confusedly; "grown-up people know +how to teach, and boys don't. Besides, we aren't idle, we work hard at +lessons all the morning, and we have half an hour's prep after tea." + +Old Principle shook his head. + +"And you're the lad for making people better, and doing good to all. +'Tis a bad principle, my boy, to wait for great opportunities, and let +the small ones go!" + +"Do you think we ought to teach him?" questioned Dudley. + +"If he wants to learn, and you have the time, you will be letting the +opportunity slip, that's all. And moreover old Principle isn't going to +be the one to help you do it." + +The old man turned his back upon them and walked into the pine wood +again, leaving the two boys gazing after him with perturbed faces. + +"He's rather cross this afternoon," observed Dudley. + +"I s'pose he thinks it's for our good. Shall we try again? Could you +teach him one day, and me the next? That wouldn't be quite so tiring." + +Rob was called upon and consulted, and it was finally arranged that +every afternoon from two to three he should have a reading lesson on the +top of the garden wall. + +"We shan't feel sleepy here, and it's the time everybody else is taking +a nap," said Roy, trying to take a cheerful view of it. "I'm going to +try and be very patient and not be cross once, for you're our +opportunity, or one of them, isn't he, Dudley?" + +Dudley nodded. "The biggest we've had yet," he said. + +Rob grinned and went away delighted. He was a steady, honest lad, +devoted to both boys; but especially to Roy, who, without Dudley's +constant remonstrance, would have tyrannized over him to his heart's +content. Miss Bertram left them alone; she exercised a certain +supervision over Rob's work, but never objected to his joining her +little nephews' amusements. + +"They will not learn any harm from him," she told her mother; "and he +may teach them many things that are good." + +So it came to pass that reading lessons took place regularly every day +on the top of the wall, and Rob's eagerness to master all hard words, +and his humble diffidence, when his little teachers waxed wrath with +him, was touching to witness. Sometimes conversation would bear a large +part in the lessons, especially when Roy was the teacher. And Dudley +would always insist on having a break for refreshments. + +"You will be able to write letters for me, Rob, when I grow up," said +Roy, one afternoon, pausing in the lesson. "I don't like writing +letters, and I'm thinking of travelling round the world and discovering +countries, so I shall have to write home sometimes. You will come with +me, won't you?" + +"For certain I will," was the emphatic reply. + +"I've been thinking," pursued Roy, thoughtfully, as he let his gaze +wander from the book between them to the top of the dark pines swaying +gently in the summer breeze; "that I may be quite strong enough when I +grow up to be a discoverer. You see I can't be a soldier or sailor, but +I haven't anything the matter with me but a weak chest, and doctors say +sea voyages and travelling do weak chests good sometimes. Do you think +I'm a very poor body to look at, Rob? That's what some of the villagers +say I am, but my head and legs and arms are all right. I'm not a cripple +or a hunchback, or blind, or deaf, or dumb, so I must be very glad of +that. What do you think?" + +"You're just as straight and plucky as Master Dudley, and you'll grow +up a big, strong man, I dare say," said Hob, sympathetically. + +"Old Principle says you may be a maker, a mender, or a breaker in your +life. I want to be a maker. And I should like to find a country and make +it into a nice big town. I want to do something big. I ask God every day +to let me find something to do." + +"Do you believe in--in God?" asked Rob, rather sheepishly. + +"Of course I do; what do you mean? Don't you?" + +"I don't know. I don't know much about Him, only you often talk as if +you're--well quite friends with Him, and I've wondered at it." + +Roy brought down his gaze from the hilltops to his companion's face with +grave interest. + +"I've known God since I was a baby," he said. "I don't remember when I +didn't know Him. Nurse used to talk to me when I was very small, and +when my father was dying he called me to him, and said,--'Fitz Roy! +Serve God first, then your Queen, and then your fellow men!' I've always +remembered it, only you know we don't talk about these things, and I've +only told Dudley. I'm trying to serve God--you don't want to be very +strong to do that; but I'm longing to serve the Queen, and when Mr. +Selby talked to us of opportunities for doing good to all men I've been +longing to find them ever since. Don't you know much about God, Rob?" + +Rob shook his head. "I used to larn He made the world and me, and I know +He'll punish the wicked, but I've never tried to serve Him, and--and I +don't think as how I care about it." + +"P'raps you don't know about Jesus Christ?" asked Roy, solemnly. + +"Well, yes, I used to larn about Him when I was a kid at the +Sunday-school. I know He came into the world to save people, but I never +rightly understood why, nor what difference it makes." + +"I'll be able to tell you that. If He hadn't died, I suppose I shouldn't +have cared about serving God because it would have been no use--nothing +would have been any use, for we should all have had to go to hell when +we died, to punish us for our sins. We could never have got to heaven at +all." + +"If we had been very good I reckon we could," put in Rob, knitting his +brows with this aspect of the subject. + +"But you see the Bible says we can't be good, not one of us--the devil +won't let us." + +"But there are good people in the world." + +"You interrupt so," said Roy, a little impatiently. "I was going to +tell you. Jesus died to let God be able to forgive us and take us to +heaven. It's rather difficult to explain, but God punished Him _instead_ +of us, do you see? So now we can all go to heaven, and the reason we try +to be good is to please Jesus because He has loved us, and the reason we +are able to be good is because Jesus helps us to be, and He can fight +the devil better than we can. There, I think I've told you it right. Now +shall we go on with the reading?" + +Rob said no more till after the lesson was over, then he said slowly, +"It's rather strange, that what you were a tellin' me, but I don't see +it quite. P'raps another day you'll tell me again." + +"If you make haste and read, I'll give you a Bible, and then you'll be +able to read about it yourself. Of course you ought to be serving God +just as much as anybody else, and you'd better begin at once!" + +Saying which Roy scrambled down from his high perch and raced across the +garden to the stables where he had settled to meet Dudley; whilst Rob +descended more slowly, muttering to himself, "'Tis a good thing not to +be afraid of God like Master Roy, but I doubt if I should ever get to +serve Him!" + + + + +VII + + +A WALNUT STOKY + +"I say, Dudley, do come out for a ride! Aunt Judy is with granny, and +she says the house must be quiet, and I hate being in a quiet house. +Come on! What are you doing?" + +Roy finished his sentence by springing on Dudley's back, and as he was +in a crouching attitude in a corner of the old nursery, he brought him +flat to the ground by his unexpected attack. For a minute or two both +boys rolled on the ground in each other's clutches, and feet and hands +were having a busy time of it. Then Dudley sprang to his feet. + +"I like you coming in to tell me to be quiet, and then beginning a fight +at once! Do shut up! You've quite spoilt my last letter!" + +"Well, what are you doing?" + +"I'm carving my name in the corner here, just below my father's." + +Roy looked with curiosity at Dudley's handiwork. + +"Yes, your M is very crooked; but I wouldn't choose to write my name on +the wainscoting. It's too low down. I like to be at the top of +everything. Now if you carved it on the ceiling that would be something +like!" + +"You're always wanting to do impossibilities!" + +"I should like to have a try at them," rejoined Roy, quickly. "I hate +everything that is easy. Now come on, do! and we'll have a good gallop +over the down!" + +Half an hour later and the boys were tearing through the village on +their ponies, and were soon out on an open expanse of heather and grass. + +Roy was in the midst of an eloquent harangue on all he was going to do +when he was grown up, when Dudley suddenly came to a standstill. + +"Something is the matter with Hazel. I believe she's going lame. Oh, I +see, one of her shoes is loose! Now what are we to do!" + +He sprang off his pony as he spoke, and looked perplexed at this +calamity. + +"Lead her on gently," was Roy's ready advice. "We aren't far off from +C----, and I know there's a blacksmith there." + +Dudley grumbled a little at having his ride spoiled in this fashion; but +it was not long before they reached the neighboring village, and the +smith's forge was soon found. + +Then, whilst Hazel was being attended to, Roy suggested that they +should go and see an old lady, a great friend of their aunt's, who lived +just outside the village. + +"She might ask us to tea," suggested Roy, "and she has awfully nice cake +always going. I'll leave my pony here, and we'll call again for them on +our way back." + +"I don't like paying visits," objected Dudley, a little crossly. + +"But Mrs. Ford isn't half bad to talk to, she's full of stories." + +And by dint of these two baits, "cake" and "stories," Dudley's shyness +was overcome, and the two boys were soon walking up a sunny little +garden and knocking at the rose-covered door of "Clematis Cottage." + +It was a tiny house, but spotlessly clean and tidy, and the long, low, +dainty drawing-room into which they were shown had a sense of rest and +repose which insensibly affected even the boys' restless spirits. + +"A nice room to be ill in," was Roy's comment; "there would be such a +lot of jolly pictures and things to look at on the walls when you were +in bed." + +"I should like to sit here on Sunday," said Dudley. "I am sure I could +be still for quite half an hour!" + +The door opened and a little old lady in widow's cap and gown came +forward. She was a fragile, delicate-looking little woman, with a very +bright face and smile, and she beamed upon the boys delightedly. + +"My dear boys, this is quite a treat! I don't often get a visit from +young gentlemen. How is your grandmother? Have you brought me any +message from your aunt?" + +"Granny is not very well to-day," replied Roy, frankly, "and Aunt Judy +didn't know we were coming here. We have been riding, and Dudley's pony +has had to be shod, so we've left him at the blacksmith's and come on +here. You see we thought it would pass the time." + +"And so it will, and you shall have a nice cup of tea before you go +back. Why, what big boys you are growing! Which is the elder? I always +forget." + +"I am," said Roy, a little shamefacedly; "but of course most people +think Dudley is, because he is the biggest." + +"It's only two months and five days, though, between us," put in Dudley, +eagerly, knowing what a sore point his size was to Roy; "and you see, +Mrs. Ford, Roy's brain is much bigger than mine--Mr. Selby says it is, +so that makes us quits!" + +"And I wonder which has the biggest soul?" said Mrs. Ford, quaintly. + +The boys stared at her. + +"Shall I tell you a little story while we are waiting for tea?" she +asked, sitting down in her easy chair by the open window, and looking +first at the boys with loving interest, and then away to the sweet +country outside her garden. + +Roy gave Dudley a delighted nudge with his elbow. + +"Yes, please; we love a good rattling story; and make plenty of +adventures in it, won't you?" + +But Mrs. Ford shook her head with a little smile. + +"I can't tell you of fights with red Indians, and shipwrecks, and lion +hunts, and all such things as that; but you must take my story as it is, +and think over it in your quiet moments. + +"There was once an old garden. Flowers and fruit of every description +grew in it, and when no human creature was about the air was full of +flower laughter and fruit conversation. One day in autumn some saucy +sparrows were teasing a young walnut-tree that stood between an apple +and a pear-tree, opposite a wall which was covered with beautiful golden +plums. + +"'What are you here for?' they said, pecking at the round green balls +that hung on the tree, and then wiping their beaks in disgust on the +grass underneath. 'Ugh! you're sour and bitter and nasty enough to +poison a person! You're a disgrace to your master. The red and yellow +apples next door to you are delicious this warm day, and the pears make +one's mouth fairly water, while as to the plums over there--well, every +one is fighting for them, from the slugs and snails to every bird in the +country, and the boys and girls and men and women--all of us have to be +kept off by those horrible nets which the old gardener is continually +spreading!' + +"'I'm sure,' whispered the young walnuts, humbly, 'we don't mean any +harm. We don't quite know why we are here ourselves. We have been hoping +to see our green skins get red and yellow, and soft and ripe, like +everything else round us, but they seem to get harder and uglier as time +goes by. They feel very heavy, and our stems ache with holding them up; +do you think it just possible there may be something inside?' + +"'Inside!' laughed the sparrows; 'who ever heard of the inside being +better than the outside? You're stuffed with conceit, but nothing else.' + +"And away they flew, for they were not a year old themselves, and knew +nothing about autumn nuts and berries. + +"The walnuts sighed and appealed to an old crow flying by. + +"'Do you think we have been planted in this beautiful garden by +mistake?' they said. 'We have been waiting a long time to give pleasure +and to do good to those around us. The bees give us a wide berth--they +say they can get no honey from us; we have no sweet scent to please the +passer-by, no lovely blossoms to delight their eyes. The apples have had +blossoms and fruit, and all the other trees the same, yet here we hang +and grow, and the days go by and we're only laughed at for our ugliness +and want of sweetness.' + +"'Wait a little longer,' said the old crow; 'wait, and take pains to +grow!' + +"And the walnuts waited, and the sun kissed their hard skins, and the +rain refreshed them when dry and thirsty; and still the sparrows mocked +them, and the apple and pear-tree talked to each other over their heads, +for they too looked upon them as a failure. One day the biggest walnut +broke from his stem and dropped in the long grass. No one heeded his +fall except his brothers; the gardener came by and gathered the apples +and pears, but did not look at the walnut-tree; and when he kicked the +fallen walnut with his feet he took no more notice of it than if it had +been a pebble. + +"'Is that our fate?' sighed the walnuts. 'Now we know we are no good. +What is the use of trying to grow? What is the good of living at all +when we're so ugly and useless, and the end of us is to lie and rot in +the grass and be kicked by every one who passes?' + +"And they wept bitter tears of disappointment and mortification; and one +by one they dropped from the tree and lay unheeded, uncared for on the +ground below. + +"Then one morning came up the old crow. + +"'Why did you tell us to wait?' cried one walnut in petulant tones. +'We're rotting, dying here, and this is the end of us.' + +"'Wait a little longer,' said the crow again; 'it is when we are very +low that we are lifted very high. When we come to an end a new beginning +is coming.' + +"The walnuts sighed as he flew away; yet the biggest one turned with a +spark of hope to his brothers. + +"'I do believe we have been made for something. My skin is rotting and +dying, but in spite of it all I feel as if I have something inside that +is still alive. Let us wait and be patient a little longer.' + +"And then at last one day, when the apple and pear-tree were fruitless +and leafless, when the flowers and butterflies and bees had all +disappeared, down the garden came the master himself and the gardener. + +"He stopped when he came to the walnut-tree, and stooping down in the +long grass he gently raised one of the fallen nuts. + +"'You must gather these in,' he said to his gardener; 'we have a good +many for the first year.' + +"'Yes,' said the gardener, 'they are ready now. I've let them lie till +you saw them.' + +"And the walnuts whispered to themselves in surprised delight that it +was not neglect and indifference had left them there, but that the +gardener had watched each one fall, and knew where to find them when +their time came at last. + +"And when their green husks were removed, and their brown shells cracked +at the master's table, they discovered that the most valuable part of +them was what could not be seen by outsiders, and could only be brought +to light by the master's hand." + +"That's a kind of parable," said Roy when Mrs. Ford ceased speaking. + +"Yes," she said, smiling; "most people are like the sparrows: they think +it is only the outside you should go by. Now, when I see a person for +the first time I always wonder what their soul is like. If that is +beautiful it doesn't matter about their body. And a little body may +contain a very big soul." + +"Can we make our souls big?" asked Roy, with an anxious face. + +"They should be growing, my boy, day by day. Put them into the +Gardener's keeping and He will make them grow. It isn't the handsome and +the strong who do all the good in the world; very often it is just the +other way." + +"Then there is hope I may do something," said Roy, brightening up; "I +like that story about the walnuts, don't you, Dudley?" + +"Yes, I'll think of it when I crack them next," said Dudley. + +Tea was now brought in, and the boys did it full justice, and shortly +after they were on their homeward way. + +"She's a jolly old thing," remarked Dudley, presently, "and her cake was +awfully good. I'm glad we went to see her." + +Roy was unusually silent. Dudley continued-- + +"I expect you've got the biggest soul of us too, Roy; nurse is always +saying your soul is too big for your body." + +"I wish I had no body sometimes," said Roy, with a sigh; "it gets so +tired and stupid." + +"Well, we won't talk about souls and bodies any more," Dudley said, +quickly, "they aren't interesting. I say, do you think we could teach +Rob cricket?" + +Rob was a topic which always interested Roy. He brightened up at once. + +"We'll teach him everything," he said, eagerly. "I want him to be able +to read and write and play, and do everything that we do, and more +besides, for I shall have him for my friend as well as a servant when I +grow up." + +"A funny kind of chap for a friend," said Dudley, a little crossly; +"he's twice as old as you are, to begin with, and he's an awfully +stupid, thick-headed fellow." + +"Don't you like Rob?" + +Roy's tone was an astonished one. + +"Oh, I like him well enough, but I'm getting rather sick of hearing you +crack him up so." + +Roy changed the subject. He wondered sometimes why Dudley seemed to lose +his temper so over Rob; it never entered his head that Dudley might +regard him as a possible rival; that Rob, the country lad, might spoil +the covenant of friendship between them. + + + + +VIII + + +THE BERTRAMS' LEAP + +It was Roy's birthday, and he was standing at his bedroom window before +breakfast looking out into the old garden below, his busy brain full of +thought and conjecture. His birthday was a very important day to him, +and for some years now there had been a settled programme for the day. +His guardian, an old Indian officer living in the neighborhood, and +formerly a very old friend of his father's, always came over to see him +and stayed to lunch, the two boys joining their elders at that meal. +Directly after, they would drive or ride over to Norrington Court which +was Roy's future home, and stay there for the rest of the day. + +The boy's heart was full of the future as usual, and when Dudley burst +into his room with a radiant face to offer his good wishes, he turned to +meet him gravely. + +But Dudley was too occupied in tugging in a small basket to notice it. + +"This is my present, old chap. Just open it and see if you don't like +it." + +Roy's little face became illumined with smiles a moment after, when he +saw two beautiful little white mice amongst the straw looking up at him +with calm curiosity out of their bright beady eyes. + +"They're tame," said Dudley, delightedly; "old Principle has had them, +taming them for over a month. Their names are Nibble and Dibble. Look! +This is Dibble with the little black spot on his nose. You never +guessed, did you? I've been down to see them lots of times and they'll +eat food out of my hand. You just see!" + +Roy was too excited over his mice to eat much breakfast, and when Rob +came up to him immediately afterward with a new cricket ball, bought out +of his small wages, he declared he was the "luckiest fellow in the +world." + +Miss Bertram presented him with a handsome writing case, and every one +of the servants had some trifle to offer him. At ten o'clock he went to +his grandmother's room. + +This was also part of the programme. + +Mrs. Bertram received him very impressively, as was her wont. + +"Sit down, Fitz Roy; you are getting a big boy; have you been measured +this morning?" + +"Yes, granny, and I really have grown an inch and a half since last +year. That isn't very bad, is it?" + +"Your father was very much taller at your age. I cannot understand it." + +Roy began to feel rather depressed. "General Newton will be here soon, +I suppose," continued Mrs. Bertram, precisely, "and I wish you to convey +him a message from me. Give him my very kind regards, and ask him to +excuse me from coming down to see him this morning. I have had a very +bad night, and am not feeling fit for any extra fatigue. I hope he will +find you improved in manners and appearance. I could wish you talked and +laughed less and thought more. You must endeavor to realize your +responsibilities when you visit Norrington Court this afternoon. It is a +very large and important property for a little boy like you to be heir +to, and I hope you will fill the position worthily when you come of age. +Your uncle was the most respected and honored man in the county, and if +your dear father had lived to come back from Canada, he would have +walked in your uncle's steps." + +"And who will walk in mine when I'm dead, granny?" + +"My dear, you must learn not to interrupt grown-up people when they are +speaking." + +"I'm very sorry, but do tell me if I died before I grew up, would Dudley +have my house?" + +"Yes, by the terms of the will he would, as his father came next in age +to yours." + +"That is what Aunt Judy means, when she calls me Jonathan and says when +I brag, that I must remember my namesake never came to the throne at +all. I like to think that Dudley may have it, he would make a grander +master than me, wouldn't he?" + +Mrs. Bertram gave a little sigh. Roy's delicacy was a sore point with +her, and she could never get reconciled to his small stature. + +"Well," said Roy, after a pause; "I'll do my very best, granny, to grow +up a big strong man. I take my tonics now whenever nurse gives them to +me, and I never pour them out of the window as I used to do. And I'm +hoping to do something great before I die, and I'm trying to grow up a +good man. Do you think that will do?" he added, a little anxiously, as +he fancied his grandmother's gaze rested on him with some +dissatisfaction. + +She did not reply, only drew out her purse from her pocket, and Roy knew +this was a signal for his dismissal. + +"Now," said Mrs. Bertram, "this is the sovereign that I usually give +you. I hope you will spend it wisely. Tell me when it is gone what you +have done with it. I hope you will spend a happy day. Give me a kiss and +leave me. Oh, if only you were more like your handsome father!" + +Roy took his gift, thanked her for it, and giving his grandmother a +kiss, left the room very quietly. + +Outside the door he paused on the door-mat, and drew his jacket across +his eyes with a strangled sob. + +"It's a pity God won't make me strong, but I don't seem to be able to do +it myself." + +And then with a shout for Dudley, a minute after he was tearing round +the house, showing his pet mice to all, and chattering away as if he had +not a care upon him. + +General Newton arrived soon after and took a more cheering view of his +ward's appearance than had his grandmother. + +"You'll grow into a splendid fellow yet," he said, patting him on the +shoulder, "and you'll out-top your cousin. Have you been in many scrapes +lately?" + +"They're good boys on the whole," replied Miss Bertram, smiling; "except +when they try to be philanthropists, and then they come to grief." + +"Oh, that's the last idea, is it? When I was here before they were going +to be travelling peddlers. Have you made a choice of any profession yet, +either of you?" + +"Yes, I'm going to be a traveller and discoverer," said Roy, with +decision. + +"Oh, indeed! Then you've still the love for exploration. How is your +friend old Principle? Is he still unearthing wonders and keeping them in +his kettles?" + +"He is busy in a cave now," said Dudley, eagerly; "would you like to +come and see it one day?" + +"No, thank you. And are you lads still devoted friends?" + +"David and Jonathan, still," said Miss Bertram; and the old general +laughed heartily. + +Before he left, he also gave Roy a sovereign, which made the little +fellow confide to Dudley, + +"I've put granny's in my right hand pocket, and the general's in my +left, they won't mix together well, because hers is such a solemn one, +and his is so jolly!" + +It was a happy little party that set off for Norrington Court. The boys +were on their ponies, and Miss Bertram in her pony trap, with Rob +sitting behind, proud in the consciousness of a new suit of clothes, and +delighted at being included in the number. + +Up a long stately avenue of elms and beeches, with bracken and ferns +covering mossy glades in the distance, and then Roy and Dudley flung +themselves off their ponies before an old stone house with ivy-covered +walls and turrets. Everything had been brightened up for their visit. +The flowers on the terraces were one mass of sweet perfume and color, +the drives weeded and rolled, and the velvet turf in only such a +condition as centuries of care can make it. The old housekeeper opened +the door in her very best black silk, and two or three more faithful +retainers stood in the background. + +Roy spoke to them all with boyish frankness and grace, and then eagerly +demanded if tea might be on the terrace. Miss Bertram agreed and while +she went indoors for a chat with the housekeeper, the boys tore round +the place dragging Rob after them. The stables of course were visited, +and an old groom who had known the boys' fathers when boys, welcomed +them with great warmth. + +"Ye must grow quicker, Master Fitz Roy. We want to see you here among +us. I'm looking to see all these stalls occupied by hunters and sich +like again. 'Tis mournful work to live year in and year out with only +two bosses for company!" + +"Tell us about the old times, Ben, do!" + +Ben sat down and spread his hands out on his knees reflectively. + +"All the young gentlemen were born riders," he said, slowly; "I mind how +Master Randolph would tear up the avenue after a long ride. 'There, Ben' +he'd say to me, chucking me the rein, and jumpin' off as light as a +feather, 'we've worked our spirits h'off--Ruby and me!' When the old +squire were alive, he'd have all three young gentlemen up, and then he'd +mount them and bring them down to Ruddocks stream, and see them jump it. +He used to say, 'No grandson of mine is worth calling a Bertram if he +can't take that leap before he is twelve year old!' They all did it +before they was ten, and he used to stand chuckling and rubbing his +hands as he saw them do it." + +"Is that the stream at the bottom of the back meadow?" asked Dudley, +eagerly; "the one with the hedge in front?" + +"Ay, to be sure!" + +"But we have never jumped it," exclaimed Roy. "And I think we ought to +for we're his great-grandsons." + +"We shan't be twelve for a long time yet," said Dudley, "but we really +ought to try." + +"Well, we'll do it this evening after tea; and you shall come and see us +do it, Ben." + +Ben grinned from ear to ear. + +"You'll go over it like a bird, if so be as your pony is accustomed to +sich things!" + +"We haven't taken very high jumps," admitted Dudley, candidly. + +"Oh, we shall do it," said Roy, with a little toss of his head; "we'll +_make_ them go over!" + +And then they turned to other subjects. + +"What do you think of my house, Rob?" asked Roy, later on as he was +escorting his humble friend through the empty rooms and corridors +upstairs. + +"It'll take a powerful number of people to fill it," said Rob, with awe. + +"I shall have a lot of friends to stay with me, of course, and then I +shall marry; men always do that, don't they?" + +"I b'lieve they mostly does," was the grave reply. + +"And won't you like to come and live with me here?" + +"That I should." + +"Well," said Dudley, from a few paces behind; "if you're going to +travel, you won't use your house much, Roy. If Rob is going to be your +follower, I'll come and live here when you're abroad, and when you come +home, I'll go away." + +"No you won't, you know we shall want you too." + +And seeing the frown on Dudley's face, Roy turned back and linked his +arm in his. "Look here," he added, "Rob shall be your follower as well +as mine, and we will all go out to look for a new country together, and +when we've found it, we will come back and have a jolly time in this old +house." + +"I shall have to work for my living," Dudley replied, gruffly. + +"Yes. I was thinking," and the earnest look came into Roy's eyes as he +spoke; "I was thinking this morning, I mustn't just live as I like to +live when I grow up. There will be an awful lot to be done. Old +Principle was telling me the other day that the reason some people are +overworked is because other people don't work enough, and an idle man +puts his burden of work on other people's backs." + +"We don't want old Principle's sermons here," exclaimed Dudley, having +recovered his good humor. "Aren't you awfully hungry? I'm sure tea must +be ready." + +They went to the terrace where a most elaborate repast was set out, +which they thoroughly enjoyed. After it was over all the servants came +up to drink Roy's health; the old butler Pike made a little speech, and +Roy responded; his words lingering in the memories of those who heard +him for long afterward. + +Miss Bertram, as she looked at his upright, slender little figure, and +noted the intense emphasis with which he spoke, felt a pang go through +her, as she wondered if his frail young life would be cut short before +he reached manhood. + +"I'm awfully much obliged to you all for your good wishes. I'm +determined when I grow up and come to live with you that I'll do all +the good I can to everybody. I hope I'm getting stronger, and I think I +may be able to do as much as other people. But whatever I am, I promise +you I'll do my very best for the property!" + +Then three cheers were given for the little master; and after the +ceremony was over, Miss Bertram told her little nephews to amuse +themselves quietly for another half hour before they returned home. + +Their plans were already arranged, and they went straight to the stables +for their ponies to try the leap the old groom had mentioned to them. + +He had already saddled them, and a few minutes after, they came through +the small paddock in front of the spot. + +It was rather an awkward hedge, though not a very high one with a broad +stream of running water the other side. + +Old Ben began to get a little nervous as he saw the boys eyeing the leap +rather doubtfully. + +"Has the hedge grown since our fathers were little boys?" asked Dudley. + +"A wee bit, perhaps, though we do keep it cut pretty much to the same +level. It's a deal thicker than it used to be, but don't you try it if +you hain't sure of your ponies. It 'ud be a awful thing if you hurt +yourself and couldn't do it!" + +[Illustration: "'He's dead, Ben! he's dead!"] + +"If we try it at all, we shall do it," said Roy, spiritedly, and then +he and Dudley rode back to put their steeds to a gallop. + +Old Ben watched them breathlessly. Dudley seemed to be hesitating. + +"I say, old fellow, don't let us do it to-night." + +Roy's look was one of astonishment mingled with a little contempt. + +"Not do it! Are you afraid?" + +Dudley's color rose. "I'm not afraid of our courage," he said, boldly, +"but of our ponies: they have never been accustomed to it." + +"Then they can learn to-night. Now then, there's plenty of room for us +both abreast. One--two--three--off! Hurrah for the Bertrams!" + +The ponies were fresh, the hedge was cleared; but as old Ben was in the +act of waving his cap aloft to give a cheer--there was a crash--a sharp +cry--and a sickening thud the other side of the hedge. And when the old +groom with beating heart and trembling limbs, reached the farther bank, +Roy and his horse were prostrate on the ground. Dudley had cleared it +safely, and now having flung himself from his horse was leaning over Roy +in agony of terror. + +"He's dead, Ben--he's dead--his pony rolled over him--oh, fetch a +doctor, quick!" + +Ben took the unconscious little figure in his arms, with a heavy groan; +and Dudley tore on to the house almost frantic with fright. + +Every one was in confusion at once, but it was Rob who tore off for the +doctor, and brought him in an incredibly short time, considering that he +lived three miles away. + +To Dudley, listening outside the bedroom door, it seemed years before +the doctor came out, and when he did, he was too overcome to speak to +him. But seeing the white unnerved face of the boy, Doctor Grant put his +hand kindly on his shoulder. + +"Cheer up, my boy, it might have been worse--he is only stunned, and leg +broken. I hope he will pull round again." + +And then Dudley burst into a passionate fit of tears, with relief at the +doctor's words. + + + + +IX + + +MAKING HIS WILL + +It was long before the cousins met; Roy's delicate constitution had +received such a shock that his condition for some time was a cause of +grave anxiety. His leg did not heal, and then the terrible word was +whispered through the house "amputation"! + +It was a lovely evening in September when after a long talk with the +doctor in the library Miss Bertram came out, her usually determined face +quivering with emotion. + +"I will tell him to-night, Doctor Grant, and we shall be ready for you +to-morrow afternoon at three." + +She went upstairs, and Dudley with scared eyes having heard her speech +now crept out of the house after the doctor. + +"Look here, Doctor Grant," he said, confronting him with an almost +defiant air: "you're not going to make Roy a cripple!" + +"I'm going to save his life, if I can," said the doctor, half sadly, as +he looked down upon the sturdy boy in front of him. + +"He won't live with only one leg, I know he won't, it will be too much +of a disgrace to him; he'll die of grief, I know he will! Oh, Doctor +Grant, you might have pity on him, it isn't fair!" + +"Would you rather see him die in lingering pain?" enquired the doctor, +gravely. + +"Oh, I think it so awful! Why should he be the one to be smashed up. +Look at me! I know everybody thinks it a pity it wasn't me. It would +have made us so much more equal. Why should I be so strong, and he so +weak! I tell you what! I've heard a story about joining on other men's +legs. Now tell me, could you do it? Could you give him one of mine? I'd +let you cut it off this minute--to-night, if you only would. If it would +make him walk straight!" + +Dudley seized hold of the doctor's coat excitedly, and Doctor Grant saw +his whole soul was in his words. + +"I'm afraid that would be an impossible feat, my boy. No--keep your own +legs to wait upon him, and cheer him up all you can." + +"Cheer him up!" was the fierce retort; "what could cheer him! I know he +won't be able to live a cripple. He always says he is straight and +upright though his chest is weak, and now when he knows it's no use +trying to be strong any more, for he'll never be able to--when he knows +he won't be able to play cricket, or football, or even climb the wall or +run races--oh, it's awful--it will break his heart, and I wish I was +dead!" After which passionate speech Dudley dashed away, and the doctor +continued his walk shaking his head and muttering, "It's a bad lookout +for the little fellow!" + +Dudley ran across the lawn in his misery, and then nearly tumbled over +Rob who was lying on the grass, his face hidden in his arms. He looked +up and his eyes were red and swollen. + +"Master Dudley, is it true, is he going to lose his legs?" + +Dudley stood looking at him for a minute before he spoke, and then he +said, "Yes, it's all that hateful doctor!" + +Rob dropped his head on his arms again and a smothered groan escaped +him. + +Dudley continued his run out into the stableyard, from thence to the +road, and he never stopped till he reached old Principle's little +three-cornered shop. + +Old Principle was busy serving customers when he came in; he gave him a +friendly nod, and went on with his business whilst Dudley crept into the +little back parlor, and sitting down in an old horsehair chair tried to +recover his breath. It was not long before old Principle came after him. + +"Well, my laddie," he said, laying his hand on the curly head, "there's +sad news going through the village this morning, and I see by your face +that 'tis true!" + +Dudley nodded and then seizing hold of the old man's hand, leaned his +head against it and burst into tears. + +"Why does God do it!" he sobbed at length, "Roy is so much better than I +am, he's always trying to please God, though he never talks about it, +and I've prayed so hard that he might be made quite well!" + +"Ay, and the good Lord is making him well perhaps though not by the way +you planned. He might a been killed outright, and then what a trouble +you'd have been in." + +"This is nearly as bad," muttered Dudley. + +"Now, laddie, don't harden your heart, are you one of the Lord's own +children?" + +"I don't know. I don't think I love God as much as Roy does." + +"'Tis an awful bad principle," the old man continued, "to doubt and +complain directly we can't understand the Almighty's dealings with us. +He loves Master Roy better'n you and me, and the time will come when +we'll thank the Lord with all our hearts for this accident." + +This was utterly incomprehensible to Dudley. + +"I feel very badly about it," old Principle went on, "and so do you, +but the one I'm most sorry for is Ben Burkstone. I hear say he's fit to +kill himself with despair!" + +"Well," said Dudley, stopping his sobs for a minute; "I don't see it was +his fault; it was the stupid pony; he funked it, and then fell and broke +his knees; mine went over all right. Oh, why didn't it happen to me! If +I had been spilled, I wouldn't have minded, and one leg wouldn't have +been half so bad to me as to Roy!" + +"I reckon you'd have got your leg all right again without having to lose +it. 'Tis the laddie's delicate constitution that is so in his way. But I +think you'll find Master Roy as plucky over the loss of his leg as he +ever was. Now lift your heart up to God and ask Him that he may overrule +it all for good. There goes the shop-bell!" + +Old Principle disappeared, and Dudley soothed and comforted by his +sympathy, retraced his steps to the house. + +Meanwhile Miss Bertram had been going through the trying ordeal of +breaking the news to the little invalid. + +Roy was lying in bed, flushed and restless. His eyes looked unnaturally +large and bright, as he met his aunt's anxious gaze. + +"I'm so tired of pain, Aunt Judy, and I can't get to sleep." + +Miss Bertram sat down and smiled her brightest smile. + +Taking his thin little hand in hers she said tenderly, + +"Yes, dear, you've been a brave little patient, but I hope you won't +have much more to bear. You would like to be free from it, wouldn't +you?" + +"Am I going to die?" + +"We hope you're going to get quite well again, if God wills, and if you +will be a good boy and let the doctor cure you." + +Roy's eyes were fixed intently on his aunt now. + +"How are they going to cure me?" + +Then Miss Bertram nerved herself for the occasion. + +"Roy, dear, you have been so patient since you lay here, that I know you +will be patient over this. Doctor Grant says that your leg will never +heal as it is, but he is sure you will get well and strong again if--if +you will make up your mind to do without it." + +"Does that mean he is going to cut it off?" + +"Yes." + +Dead silence, broken only by the flapping of the window-curtains in the +breeze. Roy was not looking at his aunt now, but his eyes were fixed on +the distant hills through the open window. A blackbird now hovering on +some jasmine outside, suddenly lifted up his voice and burst into an +exultant song. A faint smile flickered about Roy's lips. + +"Do legs _never_ grow again like teeth?" + +The pathos of tone saved Miss Bertram from smiling at the comicality of +the question. + +"I'm afraid not, dear. Not until we reach heaven." + +Then there was silence again, broken at last by Roy's saying in a very +quiet tone,-- + +"I want to see Dudley." + +Miss Bertram rose from her seat, but first she stooped to kiss him. + +"You are quite a little hero," she said; "I will send David to you. My +poor little Jonathan!" + +A hot tear splashed on Roy's forehead; he put up his hand and stroked +his aunt's face. + +"Never mind, Aunt Judy, David made a better king than Jonathan would +have I expect. Don't call Dudley just yet--I--I want to be alone." + +Miss Bertram left him, but sat down outside his door on a broad window +ledge and cried like a child. + +And then a short time after, Dudley stole softly into the room and Roy's +arms were clinging round his neck. + +"Oh, Dudley, I've wanted you, kiss me!" + +"You're going to get well, old chap, aren't you? You'll soon be out in +the garden again." + +Dudley was speaking in the gruff quick tones he used when trying to hide +his feelings. + +"We'll talk about that presently," said Roy, lying back on his pillows +and making Dudley take a seat on his bed. "Dudley, do you know what a +will is?" + +"Yes; you've a strong will nurse always says." + +"No, not that kind of one. Uncle James left a will when he died saying +he left Norrington Court to father, and father left it to me. It's a +piece of thick paper they write it down on, and it has some sealing wax +on it. Aunt Judy showed me father's will once." + +Dudley did not look enlightened, so Roy went on,-- + +"I want you to get a piece of paper and write down my will for me. I +will tell you what to say." + +Dudley slipped out of the room obediently and returned with a sheet of +note paper, but this did not satisfy Roy. "It must be a large +sheet--very large," was his command. + +After some minutes' search Dudley came in with a sheet of foolscap, and +then with pen and ink he began to write at Roy's dictation: + +"When I am dead"-- + +But Dudley's pen stopped. "You are not going to die, Roy?" + +"I hope I am," was the unexpected reply; "I've been asking God to make +me. I shouldn't think many people lived after their legs were cut off: I +know I don't want to!" + +"But I want you to live," cried poor Dudley; "oh! Roy you couldn't be so +mean as to leave me all alone. Oh, do unsay that prayer of yours. You +mustn't die!" + +"I'm going to get quite ready to die," persisted Roy; "and if you really +loved me you wouldn't think of liking to see me alive hopping about on a +wooden leg, I couldn't do it." + +"Nelson lived with only one arm," said Dudley. + +Roy lay back on his pillows to consider this; then he said in a tired +voice: + +"Will you write what I want?" + +Dudley seized the pen and in round, childish hand wrote as follows: + + "When I am dead, Dudley is to have Norrington + Court for his very own, and he is to + live there instead of me. He can have Dibble + and Nibble too. Rob is to have my musical + box. I leave him my best tool box, and father's + red silk pocket-handkerchief which I + keep in the old tobacco pot on my chimneypiece. + I leave granny her sovereign which + she gave me, and my book 'Heroes of old + England.' Aunt Judy is to have my best + four-bladed knife, and my prayer book. I + want old Principle to have my silver mug and + my new writing case. I leave nurse the sovereign + my guardian gave me to get herself some + new shoes, and I leave her my Bible." + +Thus far; then Roy gave a tired sigh. Dudley having entered completely +into the spirit of the thing looked up and said eagerly, "There's your +telescope, you know, Roy! If you leave it to me, I'll let you look +through it when we're off on our travels." + +"I shall never travel with no legs--besides I shall be dead. I'll leave +my telescope to you." + +Dudley subsided at once; then after a silence he asked meekly, "Is that +enough?" + +"Yes, I'm so tired, put--'I leave all my old clothes to the village +boys, and my cricket bat and stumps to Ben'--but wait a minute, +Dudley--there are all the servants, and I've got such heaps of books and +toys--I think we'll leave it like that." + +Dudley looked at his paper with some pride. + +"I've only made six mistakes and three blots," he said; "now may I drop +the sealing wax over it? I've got a lovely red piece in my pocket." + +"I think I have to write my name at the bottom first, I know father did. +Give me the pen." + +Dudley handed it, and wondered why Roy's fingers shook so as he signed +his name. + +"Is that all?" + +"No, wait a moment. I want to write something myself." + +And then in a large scrawl at the bottom of the paper Roy wrote-- + + "This boy died before he had time to serve + the Queen, he tried to serve God, and he tried + to do good to some people, only they turned + out mistakes. He hopes the Queen will forgive + him; he knows God will. Amen." + +Dudley read this with awe. + +"And is that a will?" he asked. + +"Yes, let me drop some sealing wax; fetch a candle!" + +Dudley was longing to do this part himself, but he generously said +nothing, and presented Roy with a brass button out of his pocket, to +stamp on the hot wax. + +A lot of sealing wax was dropped indiscriminately all over the paper, +and then old nurse appeared on the scene to order Dudley off. + +"You've been far too long with him already, to my mind," she said; "if +Miss Bertram wasn't beside herself she would never have given you +permission at all; he ought to have been kept extra quiet, and he's +worked himself all in a fever again." She put Roy gently back on his +pillows, and did not notice in her short-sightedness the roll of paper +being stuffed under his pillow. Dudley's spirits sank to zero, now he +was about to be dismissed. + +"Good-bye, Roy, ask to see me again, won't you?" + +Roy held out his hand. + +"I'll talk about it to-morrow," he said, faintly. + +And Dudley crept out of the room feeling more forlorn and wretched than +ever. + + + + +X + + +A CRIPPLE + +It was all over; two doctors had been closetted in the bedroom for a +very long time, and then Dudley and Rob, sitting on the garden steps, +were told that everything had been successfully carried out, and Roy was +as well and better than had been expected. + +"I never saw such fortitude and calm self-control in my life," said Miss +Bertram to her mother; "it was unnatural for a child of his age!" + +"He is a true Bertram in spirit," said the grandmother, proudly; then +she added with a sigh, "but, alas, not in body." + +"Nurse," said Dudley that night as he was creeping into bed under her +charge; "is Roy going to die?" + +"I hope not," answered nurse, a little tearfully. "Doctor Grant says +he'll make a good recovery, but he whispered himself to me--Master Roy +did just before he took the sleeping draught--'Nurse I'll have my leg +buried with me!' he says." + +Dudley was silent for a minute, then he asked, solemnly, "And where is +it, nurse?" + +Nurse turned upon him tearfully and angrily, + +"I believe as how you haven't one speck of feeling for that blessed +darling, you naughty boy! To talk of such a thing in such a way with not +a tear on your face! And to think of him laying there a helpless +cripple, and him the owner of the biggest estate in the county!" + +Dudley crept into bed feeling he had no more tears to shed, wondering +when he would be allowed to see Roy again, and also wondering who was +the possessor of his lost leg. + +It was a fortnight before he was allowed to see the little invalid, and +when the boys met, Dudley gazed with deep pity on Roy's white little +face, looking smaller and whiter than ever. But he welcomed him with a +smile. + +"It's years since you were here, old chap." + +"Yes," responded Dudley, "and it's been the most miserablest years of my +life." + +"I thought I was going to die then," continued Roy, with still the same +smile; "but God wouldn't let me. He was determined I should live, and do +you know I've been thinking it out. I really believe it is because He is +going to let me do something great still. And Doctor Grant has been +telling me of a man in Parliament who took all the house by storm, and +brought in a most wonderful law that thousands of people blessed him +for, and he--he had a cork leg!" + +Certainly Roy had not lost his buoyancy of spirits. Dudley drew a deep +breath of relief, and for the first time began to see brighter times +ahead. + +"And I'm going to have a cork leg," went on Roy, "a leg that if I press +a spring I can kick out. Think of that!" + +Dudley looked beaming, exclaiming,-- + +"And it will be very convenient to have a leg with no feeling, won't it, +especially about the knee when you're crawling along a wall with broken +bottles." + +"I'm going to see Rob to-morrow," announced Roy, after a little more +conversation. "Has he learned to read while I have been ill?" + +Dudley shook his head. + +"No, we tried one afternoon on the wall, but we were too miserable, so +we stopped." + +"Well, I can teach him here in bed. That's one thing you don't want a +leg to do!" + +"I say, Roy," Dudley asked, very cautiously; "don't you feel very funny +without it?" + +Roy looked away for a minute without answering, and then he said slowly: + +"I try and not think about it. It will be worse when I get up--people +might think when they see me in bed that I'm all right, but they'll know +the truth when I'm up." + +Then he added more cheerfully, "It's awfully queer, but do you know I'd +never know it wasn't there as far as the feeling goes. Why I can feel +the pain right down to my toes now. And at night I'm always dreaming I'm +running races with you as fast as I can, and then I wake and can't +believe I'll never run again." + +As Roy grew stronger he had more visitors; Rob came to him every day for +a reading lesson, and old Principle brought him books and sweets. Ben +was allowed an interview, and the old groom, with tears running down his +cheeks, besought Roy to forgive him. + +"I never ought to allowed you, and 'twas me that egged you on and sent +you to your death!" + +"No, it was my own fault, Ben," said Roy, humbly, "and the thing that +pains me most--more than breaking my leg--is to think that I should be +the first Bertram who has failed. Dudley did it, and I didn't, and of +course I shall never be able to try it again. Perhaps I was too proud of +what I could do. We have a picture in the nursery of a boy standing on +the top of a bridge, and then tumbling in the water; it's called 'Pride +must have a fall.' I've had a fall, haven't I, Ben?" + +Ben came out from that interview declaring that "Master Roy ought to be +sainted!" + +One afternoon Rob was finishing his reading lesson when he looked up +and said, a little shyly, + +"Master Roy, you mind what you were a telling me of once--about what +your father told you. Do you think as how I could do it too?" + +"Of course you could, Rob. All of us ought to serve God." + +"I've been thinking a deal about it, and I should like to, if I knew +how." + +"Well, the Bible tells you. I remember nurse made me learn a text a long +time ago, 'If any man serve me let him follow me.' It's just following +Jesus I suppose, and doing what He wants us to do." + +"How can we follow somebody we can't see?" + +Roy knitted his brows. Rob's questions were hard to answer sometimes, +and then a smile flashed across his face. + +"I'll tell you. It's like this. On my birthday granny called me in to +give me a birthday talk and, of course, she talked to me about my +property. She said my uncle had managed it awfully well over there, and +she hoped I would walk in his steps. That would be following him though +he was dead, wouldn't it?" + +"Ye-es," was the slow response. + +"And so you see," Roy replied, leaning forward impressively, and his +eyes glistening with earnestness, "we can each follow Jesus. Try and +live as He did, and do and speak like Him. We read how He lived in the +New Testament." + +"And He was the one that died for us," Rob said, reflectively. + +"Yes, He is the one you go to, to get your sins washed away. That comes +first before we begin to serve Him." + +"But I never could serve Him proper, always," objected Rob. + +"No, nor more can any one. I'm awful, you know! Dudley says I think such +a lot of myself. And of course Jesus never did. And I grumble and cry +over my leg every day, and of course He wouldn't have done it. But Jesus +forgives us again and again, and helps us to be good, and that's why we +love Him, and because He died for us." + +"Would He forgive me, and help me?" asked Rob; "are you quite sure He +would care to have me for a servant?" + +"Of course I'm sure. He wants everybody. You just ask Him." + +Rob said no more. He was a lad of few words, and for some days did not +touch on the subject again. His reading was progressing rapidly, and +when Roy and Dudley found out that his birthday was near they laid their +heads together and presented him with a handsome Bible, as they knew he +was saving up his pennies to buy one. + +His gratitude and delight overwhelmed them, and every day now, when his +work was finished, he would sit down and spell out chapters of the +gospels to himself. + +As the days began to shorten, Roy grew so much stronger that he was able +to be carried downstairs, and the first evening he was in the +drawing-room, he asked Miss Bertram for the song of the two little +drummer boys. + +She sat down at the piano, and Dudley seeing Rob weeding a flower bed +outside the open window, beckoned to him to come up closer and listen. + +"It's the best song out," he shouted. + +Roy's face shone as Miss Bertram's sweet voice rang out triumphantly. + + --"'the fight was won, and the regiment saved + By those two little dots in red!'" + +"Oh, how I wish I could be a soldier!" was the muttered exclamation of +Roy, "I shall never be able to serve the Queen now!" + +"Nonsense," said Miss Bertram, briskly; "granny would tell you 'that all +the Bertrams have always served the Queen, and only a few of them have +been soldiers!'" + +"Well, I suppose they have been sailors?" said Dudley. + +"Not at all; we have only had one admiral, and three naval captains in +our family during the last hundred years. Your father, Dudley, served +the Queen as a governor in India quite as well as if he were fighting +for her. Roy's father was her servant in Canada, though he had to do +with politics; your uncle James served as a member of Parliament. The +Queen has numbers of servants. I always think policemen are quite as +brave as soldiers!" + +"And what can a one-legged Bertram do?" Roy asked, with a pathetic smile +that went straight to his aunt's heart. + +"There's no reason why he shouldn't go into Parliament, and perhaps end +by being a member of the cabinet." + +"I never quite understand what that is," said Roy, contemplatively. "I +don't think I should like to be shut up in a stuffy cupboard. They shut +them up in it to talk, don't they, Aunt Judy?" + +How Miss Bertram laughed! But whilst she was explaining what a cabinet +was, Rob crept away from the window muttering, "I suppose as how I could +be a policeman, but I'd a deal rather be a soldier!" + + + + +XI + + +A GIFT TO THE QUEEN + +"Can I see Master Roy, please?" + +It was Rob who spoke, and he seemed breathless with haste and +importance, as he stood at the front door one cold afternoon the end of +October. + +"You can give me your message," the young footman said, rather +superciliously. + +"No, I can't," was the blunt retort; "ask Master Roy to speak to me." + +Rob gained his point, and was ushered into the library where Roy and +Dudley were amusing themselves in the firelight. + +The old nursery was not much used now, and the library had begun to be +considered the boys' room, partly because owing to it being on the +ground floor, and opening into the garden, it was more convenient for +Roy's use. + +Roy was now the possessor of a cork leg; and with the help of a stick he +was nearly as active as ever. His spirits were as high, and his purposes +as plentiful as before his illness; and his grandmother and aunt +marvelled that he could take his deformity so lightly. Yet there were +times unknown to any, when Roy's brave little heart sank with the +consciousness of it; and often in bed at night his pillow would be wet +with tears. + +"Oh, God," he would often pray, "you wouldn't let me die, do help me to +do something worth living for. I feel my leg will keep away all the +opportunities now, but please give me something big to do for you +still." + +"Hulloo, Rob, come on," was Roy's exclamation as he caught sight of his +friend. "Just look at Nibble and Dibble, we're teaching them to draw a +cart. It makes you die of laughing to look at them. There they go, and +Dibble turns head over heels in his excitement!" + +Roy's happy laugh rang out, but though Dudley joined him, Rob's face was +grave and set. + +"Please, can I speak to you on business, Master Roy?" + +"Goody! What a long face!" exclaimed Dudley, pulling down his own in +imitation of Rob's, and thereby causing a fresh peal of laughter from +Roy. "Have you been a naughty boy, Rob, and has old Hal been thrashing +you? Have you been skylarking on the top of the greenhouse, and smashed +through on Hal's pate?" + +"I should like to speak to Master Roy, alone," said Rob, a little +wistfully; in no way disturbed by Dudley's teasing. + +"Oh, it's one of your secrets again. I'll be off, Roy, I want to see old +Principle!" + +And Dudley dashed out of the room, whilst Rob came nearer and began his +"business." + +"Master Roy, I've been thinking a lot lately, and Miss Bertram asked me +the other day if I'd like any other job for the winter as there's hardly +enough work for me in the garden now. And yesterday I saw a chap in the +village I used to know. He's a recruiting sergeant for the ----shire +regiment, and he wants me to enlist straight away. I wouldn't have given +it a thought only what you said about serving the Queen has stuck to me, +and it does seem a chance, and somehow that song has been in my head +ever since I heard Miss Bertram sing it. I'd like to be in a regiment." + +Rob paused for breath, and Roy's eyes were wide open with wonder and +astonishment. + +"But, Rob, you aren't old enough to be a soldier yet!" + +"I'm just the age--they take them at eighteen, and I was that the other +day, only I don't look it." + +"But you're going to be my servant. I couldn't let you go." + +Rob's face fell. + +"I thought I could have seven years--or even twelve years would hardly +find you ready to take up your property. And then I'd come back to you +and never leave you again!" + +"But I want you with me now--always"--said Roy, in a distressed tone; "I +couldn't do without you all that time, and it's horrid of you to want to +get away from here, I think." + +"All right, Master Roy, I won't go--I'll get a job in the village that +will keep me close at hand." + +Rob tried to speak cheerfully, and after waiting a minute to see if Roy +would say any more, he left the room quietly; all the light having died +out of his honest grey eyes. + +Roy watched the antics of his mice in the firelight, but his thoughts +were far away from them. At last he opened the door and made his way up +to his grandmother's room to have his usual chat with her before tea. + +"Granny, if a person you like will do anything you like, ought you to +make that person do what you like instead of what they like?" + +"It sounds like a riddle," said Mrs. Bertram, with a smile. "I won't ask +who the person is, the question is whether you like that person or +yourself best. Which do you?" + +Roy did not answer for a minute, then he hung his head. + +"I'm afraid I like myself best." + +"If you give me more details, perhaps I can advise you." + +"Well, granny, may I talk first to Dudley about it, and then I'll tell +you. But you see it's like this--the person wants to please you, and you +can't pretend to be pleased if he does what doesn't please you!" + +"I think the best plan would be to leave yourself out of the question +entirely, and only think of the other person; that would be the most +unselfish way." + +Roy knitted his brows and heaved a heavy sigh. + +"Am I a very selfish person, granny?" + +"You are much more selfish than Dudley is," said Mrs. Bertram, +decidedly, who never minced matters with her grandsons. + +Roy flushed a deep crimson, and his grandmother added, + +"I do not say that you are altogether to blame, for Dudley has always +given way to you and spoiled you; but you do not very often think of his +wishes before your own." + +"No, I never do." + +Roy's tone was of the deepest dejection; but the sudden entrance of +Dudley gave a turn to the conversation, and he gradually recovered his +spirits. + +When the two boys were at their tea half an hour later, Roy spread the +whole matter before Dudley who looked at it in quite a different light. + +"How stunning! And is he really going? Hurray! One of us will be a +soldier, at any rate. I wish I was big enough to go with him." + +"But I don't want him to go, and I told him so, and he isn't going!" + +Dudley opened his eyes at this. + +"You going to keep him back? Why you're the one that's always talking +about serving the Queen, and fighting for her!" + +"Yes, I should like to, but--but Rob is different. I want him to be with +me." + +"Then you don't care about serving the Queen, if you're going to do her +out of a soldier who might fight for her!" + +This was quite a new aspect of the affair. + +"You think I'm like the dog in the manger? I can't go myself and I don't +want him to. But if you go to a boarding school like Aunt Judy talks of, +and I'm not allowed to go with you, and Rob is gone, I shall be left all +alone; and I hate being alone, you don't know how I hate it--I think I +should die!" + +"Well, if I was you and knew I couldn't be a soldier myself, I would +love to send some one instead of me--you know how they do in France. Old +Selby was telling us. They pay a subsidy--substitute--don't you call +it?--to go and fight for them." + +"Yes, that is the coward's way," Roy said, scornfully. + +He paused for a minute, and then his eyes flashed fire. + +"Yes, Dudley, I'll let him go. It's me that's the coward to try and keep +him back! You and I shall send him, and he shall be our substitute, and +when we hear of him doing brave things, we shall feel it's ourselves. +And we'll make him write letters to us and tell us all he is doing--oh, +it will be splendid. How glad I am he has learned to read and write. +Dudley, you just go and fetch him in, will you?" + +Dudley crammed rather a large piece of cake into his mouth, and dashed +out of the room; and a few minutes later dragged in the would-be +soldier. + +"We've settled you can go, Rob," said Roy, with a little of his +masterful air about him; "only you're to go as _our_ soldier. I think if +I had had a good, broad, strong chest and never broke my leg, I should +have enlisted, but you can go instead of me. Are you glad?" + +"I'm sorry to leave you, Master Roy, but I'd dearly like to go." + +"We must tell granny and Aunt Judy, and see what they say first. But I'm +sure they'd like you to go." + +No objection was made. Miss Bertram was rather pleased than otherwise. + +"He will make a good soldier," she said, when talking it over with the +boys; "he is a steady, reliable lad, with not too many ideas of his own, +and implicitly obedient." + +"Is that what makes a good soldier?" asked Roy. "I thought it was dash +and bravery." + +"Dash is a dangerous quality. Steady perseverance is better, Jonathan!" + +The next few days were most exciting ones for the boys. Roy and Rob had +many a long talk together, and very earnest and serious subjects were +touched upon. Rob had little time left to bid his friends farewell, but +he went to old Principle, as a matter of course. + +"Yes," said the old man, a little proudly; "all the younger folks going +out in life comes to me for a parting word. They laughs at me and my +principles, but I'm proud of my nickname, and 'tis only right principles +will make a man live right, and they knows it. What can I say to you, +lad, but fear God and honor the Queen and those in authority under her. +Never be afraid of holding to the right and denouncing the wrong, and +may God Almighty take your body and soul in His keeping until we meet +again." + +Rob's last day came, and an hour before his departure, in company with +his friend, the sergeant, he came up to the Manor to bid them all +farewell. Roy had some farewell words with him in the privacy of his +bedroom. + +"We shall miss you awfully," he said, walking up and down the room to +hide his emotion; "and it makes me wish I had your chance. But you'll +remember, Rob, I look to you to be a rattling good soldier, much better +than I should have been, and you'll be sure to do something grand and +brave the very first opportunity, won't you? You must get the Victoria +Cross, of course, and the account of you must be in the newspapers, so +that we can read about you. And I shall pray that God will keep you +safe, Rob. I hope you'll never have an arm or leg shot off, though I +think that would be better than having them cut off. I hope you'll come +back safe and sound. When shall we see you again?" + +"The sergeant told me I should get a month or six weeks' leave this time +next year, Master Roy." + +"A year is a very long time. Rob, if I should die before I grow up, I +want you to promise me that you will be Dudley's servant instead of +mine. He will be master of Norrington Court, then, and I want you to +live there." + +"But you aren't going to die, Master Roy, you will live and do great +things yet." + +Roy shook his head a little sadly. + +"Sometimes I wonder if I ever will. I won't give up trying, but I shall +never be anything but half a man, with my cork leg and my weak chest. +Dudley would make a much grander master. Still there's one thing I can +do. I can serve God--and I've sent you to serve the Queen, and I can try +to serve my fellow creatures. Good-bye, dear Rob, will you kiss me." + +And then forgetting his dignity, Roy flung his arms round Rob's neck and +hugged him passionately. "I'll never forget you carrying me home that +night," he whispered in his ear, "I loved you from that time. And Rob +you'll do what father told me to do--serve God first." + +Rob nodded, and as he knelt on the ground holding the frail little +figure to him, he made a promise there and then in his heart that he +would never do or say anything that he would be ashamed of Roy's +hearing. + +"They're calling me, Master Roy, good-bye." + +He was gone, and Roy sitting down on the floor, leaned his head against +his bed and burst into tears. + +Dudley found him there, and soon comforted him. + +"Look here, if you like it, let us get upon the wall and see Rob and the +sergeant drive by; we can just see the high road, and Rob had to go to +the inn first, so we shall have plenty of time." + +Roy's whole face beamed, he seized his stick and limped after Dudley +without a thought of his leg, but when he reached the wall he came to a +standstill. + +"I'm afraid I can't climb it, Dudley, I've never been on it since my leg +was broken!" + +But Dudley would take no denial. + +"Oh, yes, you can, I'll hoist you up, we'll manage it." + +And "manage it" they did to Roy's intense delight, though Mrs. Bertram +would have been horror-struck at the narrow escape the little invalid +had, of falling to the ground during the proceeding. + +When they saw the trap in the distance, they set up a wild cheer, and +waved their handkerchiefs frantically, and when they were answered by a +cheer and a fluttering piece of white, they felt quite satisfied at +their farewell. + +Before they got down from their high perch, Roy said, earnestly, "If God +sent us Rob as an opportunity, Dudley, I wonder if we did him good." + +"Well, you see he was such a lot bigger than us, and Aunt Judy says she +never saw such a steady good boy; it's very difficult to do good to +good people, because you want to be so extra good yourself." + +"At any rate, we've made him the Queen's soldier." + +"Yes," argued Dudley, provokingly; "but he was the first one that +thought of it!" + +"Oh, shut up," was Roy's impatient retort; "he told me himself it was +the song of Jake and Jim that did it, and--and my talking to him." + +"And I expect the sergeant thinks it's all his doing." + +"But he wouldn't have gone unless I had told him he might." + +And as usual Roy had the last word. + + + + +XII + + +LETTERS + +Very disappointed were the boys at Rob's first letter, which arrived +about a fortnight after he had gone to the regimental depot at a +neighboring town. + + "DEAR MASTER ROY: + + "I hope you and Master Dudley are + quite well as it leaves me at present. I like it + first-rate, but it is hard work, and I have a + good many masters, but I means to do my + best. God bless you. + + "From your faithful + "ROB." + +"That's not a letter at all!" said Roy, scornfully; "why he tells us +nothing at all! Why he might have gone to school and told us more! That +from a soldier. It's the stupidest rot I've ever heard!" + +"I think you forget what a poor scholar Rob is," said Miss Bertram, +reprovingly. "Now I think that is a remarkably good letter when I think +what a short time he has been learning to write. You boys had better +each write a proper letter to him yourselves, and ask him what you want +to know. He will like to hear from you." + +And so that afternoon, sitting up in state at the library table, the +boys spread out their writing materials and began to write. + +"I feel," said Roy, biting the end of his pen and looking up at the +ceiling for an inspiration, "that I don't know quite how to begin. I +should like to tell him not to write like an ass, when he knows he ought +to tell us everything." + +"All right, tell him so," said Dudley, squaring his elbow and frowning +terribly as he prepared himself for the task. "You know what old Selby +says: 'Make your paper talk, my boys, and make it talk in your own +tongues.'" + +After a great many interruptions from each other, and a few skirmishes +round the table which resulted in the ink bottle being spilt, the +letters were finished. + +Roy read his aloud with pride to Dudley, who did the same to him. + + "MY DEAR ROB: + + "You must write us longer letters. I + am quite sure there is lots to tell. What do + you have to eat? And where do you sleep? + Have you got a gun of your own? Do they + let soldiers shoot rabbits on their half-holidays? + Does the band play while you are at dinner? + What are your clothes like, and what are you + to be called, now you're a soldier? When + will you be a sergeant, and is there any fighting + coming off soon? Old Principle says + you will be learning drill. What is drill? He + says it's learning how to march, but Dudley + and I can do that first-rate. How many masters + have you got? Write to me to-morrow + and tell me all. I hope you will remember + you are our soldier, and be sure you do something + very grand as quick as ever you can. + Have you got a sword and a medal? Do you + ride on a horse, and can you fire off the cannon? + I miss you very much but you belong + to us, and must come back full of glory. + + "Your loving friend, + + "FITZ ROY BERTRAM." + + "MY DEAR ROB: + + "I hope you like being a soldier. How + many soldiers are there in the same house with + you? Give them my love and tell them we + hope they liked the cake we put in your box + for them. Roy came down to old Principle's + with me yesterday. He showed us a hammer + out of his cave he dug up. He says you will + not be a full blown soldier for a year. He + had a cousin who was a sergeant in India--and + had his brains burst out in battle. When + do you begin to fight? Tell us if you feel + funky, and what the enemy looks like, and who + they are. We think you ought to write us a + much jollier letter. Roy's leg is first-rate, and + he is up on the garden wall now like a cat. + We sit there to do our evening prep: for old + Selby. Good-bye. We're on the lookout for + your name in the newspapers the first battle + that comes off. + + "Roy's friend, + + "DUDLEY." + +"I don't think you've finished your letter properly," observed Roy, +critically, as Dudley concluded reading his. "Why do you write you're my +friend?" + +"Because I am," was the prompt reply; "I'm not Rob's friend and I shan't +tell him I am. I just write to him because you do, that's all." + +"Don't you like him?" + +"I don't want him for my friend; he's going to be a kind of servant. +Besides I wanted him to remember that I was your friend. I knew you long +before he did, and if he was dead now, or if he never had been born, I +should have been your friend just the same. We could have got on all +right without him." + +This was not the first touch of jealousy that had appeared in Dudley's +character. He had more than once quarrelled with Roy on account of the +boy who he said had crept in between them, but on Roy always +emphatically assuring him that Rob occupied a back place in his +affections, Dudley would generally be appeased and become his sunny self +again. + +"I like Rob very much," said Roy, slowly, "'specially now he's a +soldier. I was thinking in church last Sunday, when they were reading +about David and Jonathan, that Jonathan had an armor-bearer. That's Rob. +Only I can't go to battle, so I send him. Don't you think that's a nice +idea?" + +"Did he get killed?" asked Dudley, with interest; "I forget about him." + +"It doesn't say--I expect he lived as long as Jonathan did, and then +perhaps David took him to be his servant. That's what I've settled with +Rob, that he shall be your servant if I die." + +Dudley gave himself an impatient shake. + +"Oh, shut up with that rot, you'll live as long as I do!" + +Roy did not speak for a minute, then he said, slowly, "You remember my +will that I made when I was so ill?" + +"Yes, what did you do with it?" + +"Aunt Judy found it the next morning on the floor nearly under the bed. +She laughed a little at first, and then got quite grave when I explained +it, and she took it away and locked it up somewhere. But if I never +make another, you will remember that I have left Rob to you for your +servant." + +Dudley looked up with a comical gleam in his eye. + +"And who gave Rob to you, old chap?" + +"I took him--at least he gave himself to me." + +Roy's tone was dignity itself, but Dudley laughed. + +"Well he doesn't belong to you any longer; the Queen has got him." + +"I have lent him to her, that's all." + +"You talk of Rob as if he is a slave. He's a Briton, and 'Britons shall +be free!'" + +"So he is free, but he chose to be my servant when I grow up, and he +shall be!" + +Dudley dropped the argument, for Roy's face was flushing hotly, and he +was wonderfully patient with him since his accident. + +Miss Bertram entered the room at this juncture, and asked in her cheery +brisk tones, "Would any boys like to drive me to the railway station in +the pony trap? I am going up to London on business, and shall be away +till to-morrow." + +"Hurray," shouted Roy; "we'll come, and just read our letters, Aunt +Judy! Won't they make Rob see how he ought to write?" + +Miss Bertram took the letters in her hand, praised the little writers, +and then sent them off to their rooms to get tidy for their drive. + +A short time after, Roy mounted in front with his aunt, was driving her +with pride along the high road; whilst Dudley from the back seat kept +them lively with his chatter and flow of fun. + +The boys always liked the bustle of the station; and getting a lad to +hold the pony, they followed their aunt to the platform and saw her on +board the train. Some friends spoke to her before the train went off and +amongst them was a certain Captain Smalley. + +"I say," said Dudley, nudging Roy; "he's an officer, and he is in the +army, I expect he knows Rob." + +"We'll ask him, directly the train is off." + +But in the bustle of the last few minutes they missed seeing him; the +young captain got into his dog-cart, and was well on his way home before +the boys were ready to start in their trap. + +"Oh, I say! See him in the distance! Whip up and let us catch him. Here, +let me drive, it's my turn now!" + +But Roy clutched hold of the reins. + +"No, I want to." + +"I tell you it's my turn!" + +"It's the only thing I can do with one leg, it's a beastly shame of +you!" + +Dudley, who had nearly got possession of the coveted reins dropped them +instantly. + +"All right then, but go ahead!" + +And then Roy with a shamed look put the reins in his cousin's hands. + +"I'll give them up. Granny always says I'm selfish. It was awfully mean +to talk of my leg. Now then hurry! Gee-up!" + +Dudley took the reins with a gratified smile, applied the whip, and the +spirited little pony dashed along the road at such a rate, that a porter +looked after them in dismay. + +"Those two young gents will come to their death afore they're +satisfied," he remarked, and another man responded: + +"Yes, the little one is pretty well smashed up already, but legs or no +legs, boys allays keeps their sperrits!" + +Captain Smalley was rather startled at hearing frantic shouts behind +him, and when he pulled up wondering if some message were to be +delivered, he was still more bewildered by what he heard. + +"Hi, Captain Smalley! Stop for us. We've come two miles out of our way. +Now then, Roy, go ahead!" + +"Do you know Rob? We want you to tell us how he is. We can't get a word +out of him; is there going to be any fighting? And how does he look in +his clothes?" + +"Who is Rob?" asked Captain Smalley. + +"Why, he's a soldier like you. You must know him!" + +A few more explanations were made, and then the young man laughed +heartily. + +"Your young friend is learning his recruit drill at the depot, I should +think. If he were in my regiment I might not be able to give you much +information about him. The army is a big affair, my boys, and I doubt if +Rob and I will ever meet." + +The boys' faces fell considerably. + +"Do you think he likes it?" asked Roy, anxiously; "do you like being a +soldier?" + +"Of course I do, and if he has any stuff in him he will like it, too." + +"And will he be sent to fight very soon?" + +"I dare say he may do his seven years without a single fight!" + +Roy looked very disappointed. + +"If he doesn't fight, he might just as well have stopped at home. What's +the good of being a soldier if you don't have any battles?" + +"Soldiers prevent battles, sometimes." + +This sounded nonsense to the boys. They bade the captain good-bye, and +turned their pony's head homeward quite disconsolate. + +"I'll write and tell him to come home if he's not going to do anything," +said Roy, with his little mouth pursed up determinedly. + +"We'll give him a chance, first. He may go out to fight. Captain +Smalley didn't say for certain." + +"I think Captain Smalley is funky himself about fighting, that's what I +think!" + +And with this disdainful assertion Roy dismissed the subject. + + + + +XIII + + +OLD PRINCIPLE + +It was a soft, mild day in December. Mr. Selby's study seemed close and +stifling to the boys as they sat up at the long table with books and +slates before them, and a blazing fire behind their backs. + +"This sum won't come right, Mr. Selby," groaned Roy; "and I've gone over +it three times. It is made up of nothing but eights and nines. I hate +nine. I wish it had never been made. Who made up figures, Mr. Selby?" + +Roy's questions were rather perplexing at lesson time. + +"I will tell you all about that another time," was Mr. Selby's reply. +"Have another try, my boy: never let any difficulty master you, if you +can help it." + +A knock at the door, and Mr. Selby was summoned to some parishioner. He +was often interrupted when with his pupils, but they were generally +conscientious enough to go on working during his absence. + +But Roy's lesson this morning was not interesting, and he was unusually +talkative. + +"It's no good trying to master this sum, it's all those nines. They're +nasty, lanky, spiteful little brutes, I should like to tear them out of +the sum-books." + +"Expel them from arithmetic," said Dudley, looking up from a latin +exercise, his sunny smile appearing. "Don't you wish we could have a +huge dust hole to empty all the nasty people and things in that we don't +like?" + +"Yes--I'd shovel the nines in fast enough, and a few eights to keep them +company, and then I would throw in all my medicine bottles, and my great +coat, and--and Mrs. Selby on the top of them!" + +This last clause was added in a whisper, for if there was any one that +Roy really disliked, it was his tutor's wife. She was a kind-hearted +woman, but fidgety and fussy to the last degree, and was always in a +bustle. Having no children, she expended all her energies on the parish, +and there was not a domestic detail in any village home that escaped her +eye. She had spoken sharply to the boys that morning for bringing in +muddy footprints, and her words were still rankling in Roy's breast. + +"It's so awfully hot," Roy continued; "let us open the window, Dudley. +Old Selby won't mind for once; it's like an oven in here." + +The window was opened with some difficulty, and the fresh air blowing in +seemed delicious to the boys. Roy clambered up on the old window-seat, +slate in hand, but his eyes commanded the view of the village street, +and the sum made slow progress in consequence. + +"I say! Tom White's pig has broken loose, and that stupid Johnnie Dent +is driving it straight into old Principle's! I expect he'll come out in +an awful rage. No--the door must be shut, he can't get in. There seems +quite a crowd round old Principle's. He's giving them a lecture, I +expect. Here comes old Mother Selby tearing up the street, her bonnet +strings are flying and she's awfully excited!" + +A minute after the door was thrown open. + +"John, it's the most extraordinary thing--oh, you are not here!--Where +is Mr. Selby? I always knew something would happen to that old man +roaming over the hills half the night, and digging holes big enough to +bury himself! John! Where are you?" + +She disappeared as quickly as she had come, banging the door violently +behind her; but Roy sprang down from his seat instantly. + +"Dudley, it's old Principle! Something must have happened to him, do let +us go and see." + +Dudley dashed down his pen, and was vaulting out of the window, when he +suddenly stopped. + +"Roy get your great coat, quick. Aunt Judy made me promise to look +after you. I'll wait while you get it." + +Roy dashed out into the hall. He heard the rector's voice in the +distance, but was too excited to wait to see him, and after impatiently +tugging on his objectionable coat, he limped off as quickly as he could, +joining Dudley at the garden gate. They heard the news on the way to old +Principle's. It appeared that the old man had gone out the afternoon +before, and had never come home. His shop was shut up exactly as he had +left it, and the woman who went in every day to do his cleaning and +cooking for him, was the first one to notice his absence. The group of +idle women round his door were busily discussing the question when the +boys arrived. + +"I shouldn't be a bit surprised if as how he has made away with +hisself," suggested one, knowingly. "I always did say as he were queer +in the head, a makin' out of a pack o' stones such amazin' stories! And +a mutterin' to hisself like no ordinary creetur, and a walkin' through +the woods and fields as if he seed nothin' but what other folks couldn't +see at all!" + +"Ah, now! To think of it! And Bill is a goin' down the river to find his +body; for him and Walter Hitchcock have searched the whole place since +seven o'clock this mornin'!" + +"May be there's a murder in it," said a young woman, cheerfully. "He +were an old man to wander off alone, and there's allays evil-doers round +about for the unprotected." + +The boys listened to these and similar conjectures with frightened eyes; +then Dudley whispered, + +"I believe he is in his cave, Roy; we'll go and look for him. Only don't +tell these women about it, because he hasn't told anybody but us where +it is." + +They left the shop and started for the hills, but Roy's lameness made +progress very slow. + +At last he stopped, and struggling to hide his disappointment said, +"You'll have to go on without me, Dudley. I only keep you back. This old +leg of mine always comes in the way." + +Dudley stopped to consider. "It's a very long way, but we must get there +somehow. Hulloo, here's just the thing." + +They had stopped at a small inn at the outskirts of the village; and +tied to the drinking trough outside, was a rough pony and cart whose +owner was enjoying himself in the tap room with his friends. + +"Jump in, Roy. It's to save old Principle, and anybody would be glad to +lend his cart for that." + +Roy was not long in acting upon this advice. The pony trotted forward +briskly, and the boys would have thoroughly enjoyed this escapade, +except for the fears of their friend's safety. + +"If anything has happened to him, the village will go to the dogs!" Roy +asserted, emphatically; "old Hal said the other day he was worth a +couple of parsons. When I grow up, I think I shall try and be like him. +I shall give good advice to everybody without ever scolding them, that +is what he does." + +"Do you think he is dead?" asked Dudley, "I don't think he can be. Why +it was only the day before yesterday we saw him, and he was as well as +we are." + +It seemed a long time before they reached the cave; the hills were steep +and the pony rather old, and more than once Dudley felt inclined to run +forward on his own two legs. Roy at last suggested this. + +"I can drive up after you as fast as I can; and if you find him you +holloa to me." + +So Dudley jumped out and was soon lost to sight behind the bushes and +hollows that fringed the hills. + +Roy drove on busily thinking, and wondering if they had done wisely to +take the matter into their own hands, and come off alone as they had +done. + +When he at length reached the cave Dudley came to meet him with a +puzzled face. + +"Something has happened, Roy. I can't get into it very far; there's a +lot of earth tumbled down and I can't move it." + +"Then old Principle is buried alive!" cried Roy in terror. "Quick, +Dudley, let us dig him out." + +Dudley seemed quite helpless. + +"I've no spade, and there's no place near to get one. I wish we hadn't +come alone." + +This was a dilemma, but Roy would not be overcome by it. + +"Let us look about for his tools; he always brings them up with him. +Isn't there enough room for me to get in, Dudley?" + +Dudley shook his head, and both boys approached the entrance. There had +indeed been a serious landslip, and it was impossible to remove the +great blocks of stone and earth that had fallen without proper tools; +and though they searched for some traces of old Principle, not a thing +belonging to him could they find. + +"Perhaps he may not be here." + +"I believe he is," maintained Roy; "and we must be as quick as ever we +can. Dudley you go back in the cart and get some men to come and help. I +will stay here. How I wish we hadn't come alone!" + +Left by himself, Roy did not sit down and do nothing. Clambering all +amongst the fallen earth and stone, he eagerly searched for some +crevice or opening; and at last high up in the ravine he found one. Then +lying down flat on the ground he put his mouth to the hole. "Old +Principle! Hi! Old Principle! Are you there?" + +It was not fancy that a muffled voice came up to him-- + +"Help! I'm here!" + +That gave Roy fresh strength. Eagerly he tore aside brambles and stones +with small thought of his scratched, bruised hands, and at last had the +satisfaction of viewing a hole big enough to drop his slim little body +through. Then he called again, + +"Old Principle, I'm coming down from the top. Are you hurt? Can you tell +me if it is far to fall?" + +And this time old Principle's voice sounded clearer: + +"God help you, laddie! For I can't help you or myself. No it is not a +very big drop from where you are." + +For one moment Roy looked at the dark chasm below him with hesitation, +then he murmured to himself, "If I break my other leg, I must get to +him--poor old Principle." + +And then carefully and cautiously he let himself down, clinging with his +hands to a stout twig of mountain ash that bent and swayed across the +crevice with his weight. + +Another moment and leaving go of the friendly branch, he dropped on damp +fresh soil, and found himself in almost total darkness. Then as his eyes +got more accustomed to it, he saw the prostrate form of old Principle +only a yard or two away from him. The old man was breathing heavily, and +his legs were completely buried under fallen earth. + +"Is it Master Roy?" he said, as Roy came over and took hold of his hand; +"ay, you shouldn't have imprisoned yourself with me, laddie--I didn't +rightly think of what you were doing--I'm--I'm in such pain!" + +"Are you very hurt? Oh, dear, what can I do? I can't lift you. Are your +legs broken?" + +"I don't rightly know. If you could shift a little of the earth off, may +be it would ease me!" + +Roy looked round and then delightedly seized hold of a small shovel. + +"Your shovel is here. I'll do it," he said, cheerfully, and then to work +he went. The soil was fortunately not heavy to remove, but there was a +great quantity of it before poor old Principle's legs were liberated. +Roy toiled on, hot and breathless, longing that help should come, his +own fatigue forgotten in his pity for the helpless old man. + +"Can you lift yourself up, old Principle? I really think I've got the +earth off your legs--at least most of it!" + +There was a struggle, then a groan. + +"I'm afraid not, laddie. 'Tis the power that has quite gone out of them. +I'm fearing that old Principle will be never roaming the hills again, +but there 'tis the Lord's will, and He never do make mistakes." + +"Do you think your legs are broken like mine were?" + +"I can't rightly say. It has seemed a weary time since I lay here. Many +days and nights I suppose--and I'm longing for a drink, but thank the +Lord, He has sent you to me." + +"It is only since yesterday that you have been lost. And Dudley has gone +back to get some men to come. I wish I could get you some water, but +there's none here, is there?" + +"I am afraid not." + +Silence fell on the pair, which was broken at last by,-- + +"'Tis a good principle to think of your mercies when trouble overtakes +you. It has whiled away the time here, and I can thank the Lord with all +my heart, that my head and hands are uninjured!" + +"How did it happen?" asked Roy. + +"I'm afraid I excavated too far and was in the midst of unearthing a +large boulder of stone when I remembered no more--it took me so sudden, +and when I came to life again I thought I was in my bed at home with a +ton's weight on my feet. 'Twas good of the Lord to give me air--that +crevice you came through has saved me." + +"You said a long time ago you could mend anything but broken hearts, but +you can't mend broken legs, can you? Or you would have mended mine." + +"Ay, ay, so I would, surely. No--the mender has turned into a breaker +this time, 'tis a good thing it's only himself that he has broken up." + +A slight groan escaped him, and Roy softly stroked his face, a broken +sob escaping him. + +"Oh, old Principle, how I wish I was strong, how I wish I could move +you! You aren't broken up! Don't say you are. Couldn't I help you to +roll over on your back, wouldn't that be better?" + +After great effort this was partly accomplished, and then to Roy's +intense relief he heard voices above. + +Running to the opening he shouted: + +"Here we are! Help us out, or old Principle will die!" + +But it was some time before the rescue could be accomplished. The +opening was small enough to let Roy through, but not old Principle, and +the boy refused to leave the old man. Pickaxes and shovels were set +heartily to work, and after half an hour's hard toil, the old man was +gently raised out of his dangerous position, and placed in the cart. Roy +was put in with him, and Dudley walked by the side in silence until they +reached the village. There was a great stir and excitement over their +return. Mrs. Selby and their aunt met the boys at the entrance of the +village, and Miss Bertram looked anxiously at Roy's little white set +face. + +He could not be torn away from his old friend till he heard the doctor's +verdict, and it was a far more hopeful one than anybody had anticipated. + +"It is a marvellous escape. Not a bone broken, but of course he is +terribly bruised and shaken, and very stiff." + +"I'll sit with him till we can get a proper nurse," said good-natured +Mrs. Selby; "he seems to have no kith or kin belonging to him. It will +be a lesson to him, for life, I hope, and will put a stop to all this +delving and digging and unearthing what is best left alone. It only +fosters scepticism in the minds of the ignorant, and teaches them to +disbelieve their Bibles!" + +Old Principle looked up with a smile after the doctor's visit. + +"Is little Master Roy there?" + +Roy pressed forward eagerly. + +"I'm thinking, laddie, that you and Master Dudley have had a rare good +opportunity of saving a poor old man's life, and he is duly grateful to +you." + +But Roy was very near tears. + +"I'm so glad--so glad your legs aren't broken," he said, in a quivering +voice, "anything is better than being suddenly turned into a cripple!" + +And then bending over him he kissed the furrowed brow, and crept out of +the room. + + + + +XIV + + +HEROES + +Old Principle's accident was a great event in the village. The boys got +their fair share of praise in his rescue, but their grandmother did not +see it in such a favorable light. + +"You ought never to have left your lessons without leave, or taken a +cart belonging to a stranger all unknown to him, or gone off alone +without telling any one about it. And you were shown the folly and +uselessness of such a proceeding by arriving on the scene and being +utterly unable to extricate him from his position. If children would +realize their weakness and foolishness more in these days, they would +develop into better men and women, but self-sufficiency and self-conceit +are signs of the times!" + +Every day the boys went to see their friend, and even Mrs. Selby allowed +that they could be quiet and well-behaved in a sick room. It was a long +time before old Principle regained his health, and he seemed to have +grown much older and feebler since his accident; but his serenity of +spirit was undisturbed, and some of the neighbors who had before voted +him close and cranky, now offered to come and sit with him, and learned +many a lesson from his sickbed. When he was at last able to take his +place in the shop again, Roy's mind was at ease about him. + +"I was so afraid he was going to die as long as he stayed in bed," he +confided to Dudley: "I hope no one will ever die that I like, it must be +such a dreadful thing to have them gone. I think I would rather die +first, wouldn't you?" + +"We can't all die first," said matter-of-fact Dudley; "somebody must be +last." + +"Well, I don't think I shall be," returned Roy, "that's the best of +being weak like I am." + +But this assurance brought no comfort to Dudley. + +A few more labored letters came from Rob, and then one that stirred the +boys' hearts after he had been about three months away from them. It was +to say that he was going out to India in a draft, and had been allowed +three days to come and say good-bye to his friends. + +Roy was almost beside himself with excitement at the prospect of seeing +him again; and when the day came, he insisted upon going to the station +by himself to meet him. Dudley perched on the garden wall awaited their +coming. + +Rob was certainly improved in appearance. He held himself up bravely, +but a softened light came into his eyes, as Roy, looking whiter and more +fragile than ever, flung himself into his arms, utterly regardless of +all onlookers. + +"I'm right glad to see you, Master Roy," said Rob, in a husky voice. + +"Oh, Rob, you look so splendid! And you've got to be quite a man! Come +on, I'm going to drive you home, and we shall be all by ourselves. Now +tell me, are you really and truly happy?" + +Rob did not answer this question till he was in the trap being driven +homeward; then he said, slowly, "Yes, I'm thinking I like it first-rate, +but 'tis hard in many ways. 'Tis hard to keep straight and do the right, +when most seems to live the other way." + +"But most of the soldiers aren't bad, are they?" questioned Roy with +startled eyes. + +"They aren't out and out bad--just careless, I reckon, but old Principle +would say they're lacking in principle." + +"And is it hard being a soldier? I suppose it must be a little. I came +across a text I thought would just fit you, Rob, the other day. 'Endure +hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.'" + +Rob's eyes brightened. He seemed strangely older and graver in his ways, +yet when they drove up in sight of Dudley who slipped down over the +wall, and tumbled himself into the trap with them, he made the boys roar +with laughter with his funny incidents of barrack-room life. + +The three days passed only too soon. Innumerable were the questions put +to the young soldier, and Roy's curiosity about a military life was +insatiable. + +"Well," he said at last, "I don't think I should be strong enough to be +a soldier, but I'm awfully glad you're one, Rob. And now you've got your +chance in India of doing something grand and getting the Victoria Cross. +The opportunity has come to you, and Dudley and I can't get it, though +we've tried hard. But we have helped to send you out to India to do it, +Rob, so you won't fail us, will you? And then when you come back covered +with medals, you shall live with me and always dress in your uniform, so +we'll look forward and think of that!" + +When Rob departed, he had quite a little party of friends to see him off +at the station. Old Hal, the gardener, Ted, the stable-boy, and old +Principle were there, and Miss Bertram and her nephews were with him to +the last. + +"He's begun right, and he'll go on like it," announced old Principle, +with emphasis, as the train steamed out of the station, and Rob leaned +out of the window to wave a last farewell to his friends. "'Tis the +beginnin' of life that boys make such a mess of, as a rule!" + +Roy's eyes were tearful as he watched the train disappear. + +"I've given him to the Queen," he said, gravely, to his aunt; "and no +one can say I'm selfish, for I'd much rather have had him stay with me. +But as I can't do anything grand, he must do it for me!" + +The day after Rob left them, the boys had an invitation to spend the day +with Roy's guardian, General Newton. He did not often ask them over to +see him, so it was considered a great treat, and they set off in high +spirits. The groom drove them over, and they were shown into the +general's study at once upon their arrival. He was not by himself; +another grey-haired gentleman was seated there smoking, and the boys +wondered at first who he was, but General Newton soon enlightened them. + +"This is a very old chum of mine, boys, who was in my regiment with me +when I first enlisted; he has been a hero in his time, so if you make up +to him he will tell you some wonderful stories. Now, Manning, these boys +are smitten with the 'scarlet fever' at present, as a young friend of +theirs has just enlisted. Tell them something about the Crimea; you had +plenty of ghastly experiences there." + +Colonel Manning laughed as he met the boys' admiring gaze, and before +long he was enchanting them by his reminiscences. + +"Now will you tell us the very bravest thing that you ever saw any +soldier do?" demanded Roy, with flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes. + +Colonel Manning looked at his little auditor rather thoughtfully. + +"I've seen a good many brave deeds done," he said, slowly; "but one +stands out in my memory above and beyond them all." + +"Oh, do tell us." + +"It was quite a young lad, a recruit that came to join our regiment when +we were in Malta. He was a fair, curly-headed boy, and seemed quite +frightened at the rough life and ways of his comrades. I happened to be +orderly officer one evening, and was going my rounds, when I passed one +of the barrack-rooms just before lights were out. It was in a low +building and the windows were open. The men were noisy, and the first +thing I heard was a volley of oaths from one of the oldest soldiers +there. The corporal in charge instead of reproving him, was joining in, +and there was a great dispute between a lot of them about some small +matter, when this young chap stood up with a flush on his cheeks. +'Comrades,' he cried; 'would any of you allow your mother to be called +evil names in the barrack-room?' His voice rang put so clearly that +there was a hush at once, and they turned to him in wonder. 'You know +you wouldn't,' he went on; 'and you are ill-treating the name of One who +is dearer and nearer to me than any mother--the best Friend I've got. I +tell you, I won't allow you to do it while I am in the room!' I remember +as I stood there and heard him, and saw the men utterly abashed before +the boy, I felt he had a courage that none of us could equal." + +"Is that all?" asked Dudley, with disappointment in his tone. + +"Did the men stop swearing?" asked Roy. + +"As far as I can remember, they did. The corporal rebuked them, and +lights were put out, but that boy was braver than many a hero on the +battlefield." + +The boys' faces fell. + +"But that was not what we call a brave deed," said Roy, at length. "Of +course it was splendid of him, but it wouldn't get him the Victoria +Cross." + +"No, only a crown of everlasting life, and a word of commendation from +the King of Kings," said the colonel, in a strangely quiet voice; but +Roy's expressive little face kindled at once, and he said no more. They +went into the dining-room to lunch soon, and the boys were too busy +enjoying the good things before them to talk much to their elders. After +it was over General Newton sent them out for a run in the garden. And +then when they came in, he asked them if they would like to come +upstairs to his old picture gallery. + +"I am going to take my friend up, and you can come, too." + +The boys were delighted; they had often heard of this gallery, but had +never been in it as General Newton kept it locked up, and very rarely +opened it. + +"I have some gems amongst the portraits," he said to Colonel Manning as +he unlocked a door in the passage, and led them into a long dusky +corridor; "I will pull up the blinds and then we shall see. They are +mostly ancestors, but one or two are by master hands, and two or three +royal personages are amongst them." + +The boys listened eagerly whilst their host pointed out one and another, +with now and then an anecdote connected with them. + +"Look," said Roy, delightedly, "there's a fine soldier. He is quite +young, and yet what a lot of medals! and oh, General Newton, isn't that +the Victoria Cross on his coat?" + +"Yes, my boy, he served his country well for such a youngster, he +fought in eight battles, and came home without a scratch, though he had +many hair-breadth escapes. In one battle he had two horses shot under +him, and he saved the colors on foot, though he was leading a cavalry +charge." + +"He was a regular hero!" murmured the admiring boys. + +"I don't think he was," said the general, drily. "He had plenty of dash +and go, but no moral courage. He came home after the wars were over, and +broke his mother's heart by becoming a drunkard and a gambler; and he +died an early death from drink and dissipation." + +Roy looked very puzzled. + +"I thought a brave man must be a good one, and brave and good to the end +of his life." + +"A man can face the cannon's mouth better than a friend's ridicule," +said General Newton; "the young soldier we were hearing about before +dinner had a nobler courage than this poor fellow here." + +Roy said no more, but though he listened and looked, the rest of the +time they were in the gallery, his thoughts were with the hero of the +Victoria Cross. He ran back to have one more look at him before they +went downstairs, and gazed up at the bold, frank bearing, and the +laughing mouth of the soldier, with wistful pity in his brown eyes. + +"You served your Queen and country, but I expect you left out God," he +said, in a whisper; then he ran on to overtake the others. + +After an early tea the boys were packed up in the trap to come home. + +"Drive home as quickly as you can," said the general to the groom, "for +rain is not far off, and it will not do to let Master Fitz Roy get a +soaking; he looks as if a breath of wind will blow him away." + +"I do hate people talking about me like that," Roy confided to Dudley as +they set off at a brisk rate; "I might just as well be a girl. I often +wonder I wasn't born one for all the good that I shall do in the world." + +"That's all stuff," said Dudley, indignantly; "you'll be an awfully +strong man I expect when you grow up, you see if you aren't!" + +Roy shook his head, and was unusually silent for some time. They were +driving through the outskirts of a village when down came the rain. The +groom wrapped the boys up as well as he could, and was urging the horse +on, when it suddenly shied and came to a standstill. Looking down, the +groom saw a small child seated in the middle of the road, almost +miraculously preserved from the horse's hoofs. + +"Well, here's a go," he muttered; "where on earth does it come from, we +don't want no delay in such a storm as this!" + +The boys had sprung down at once from the trap, and were endeavoring to +drag the child away when it burst into roars of fright and anger. + +"I want mummy--oh, mummy!" + +It was a little girl between three and four. She had been placidly +nursing a doll in the middle of the road, and seemed perfectly oblivious +of wind and rain. + +"Where do you live?" asked Roy, but the child only continued to wail for +its mother. + +"Here, Master Roy, you'll be wet through. Come back, and let Master +Dudley hoist her up to me. We can't stop all day trying to find out +where she lives. We'll take her back with us for the time." + +But this did not please Roy. + +"No, we must find her mother; she must come from the village we have +passed. You wait there with the horse, Sanders, and we'll take her +back." + +"Let Master Dudley do it, then," said Sanders, crossly, "and you get +into the trap again." + +This also Roy refused to do. + +"It's an opportunity, isn't it, Dudley? And look she has taken hold of +my hand; you run on in front and ask about her at the first cottage you +come to, and I'll bring her after you." + +Sanders grumbled and growled, but the boys did not heed him. Happily the +mother of the child soon appeared, thanked them profusely, and Roy and +Dudley clambered up into the trap again, both wet through. + +"You're a heedless, disobedient pair," said the wrathful Sanders, "and +if I'm blamed for your taking to your beds and gettin' rheumaticky fever +and inflammation of the lungs, it won't be my fault, and I shall tell +the missus so!" + + + + +XV + + +AN UNWELCOME PROPOSAL + +Roy was not well for some time after this episode. He had a bad +bronchial attack, and was in the hands of his old nurse again. + +"It do seem as if everything conspires to make you a delicate lad," she +said one day; "it beats me how you come through it as well as you do! +But 'tis mostly your thoughtless ways that leads you into trouble." + +"I'm sorry," Roy said, cheerfully; "but I expect I'm stronger than I +look. I never shall be much of a fellow, I know; but even with my cork +leg I can do a good deal, can't I?" + +"You're worth two of Master Dudley!" ejaculated the fond nurse, but this +assertion was of course questioned. + +"I shall never be like Dudley, never! Not in looks, or strength, or +goodness. He is better than I am all round!" + +Miss Bertram came into the room at this moment. + +"Ah, nurse," she said, in her bright, brisk way; "he is like a cat, +isn't he? Has nine lives, I'm sure. There never was such a boy for +getting into scrapes. I'm in fear whenever he is out of our sight now +that he may never come back again." + +"Now, Aunt Judy, you wouldn't have liked me not to have got out to that +baby?" + +"I should like some one else to have done it." + +"Yes, I suppose Dudley would have done it," and Roy's tone was a little +sad; "but you see I wanted to help. As he was saying to me this morning, +he will have many more chances than I when he gets bigger and goes out +to India to do good to people. I shall have to stop at home now, for I +shall never be able to ride, he will have all the big opportunities, and +I must be content with the little ones." + +"You talk like a little old grandfather, sometimes," said Miss Bertram, +laughing, as she sat down beside him. "You must make the most of David +while he is with you, for I have heard from his stepfather this morning, +and he wishes him sent to school at once." + +Roy's eyes opened wide. + +"But I shall go too, shan't I, Aunt Judy?" + +"I am afraid not just yet. You are not fit to rough it; besides we +couldn't lose both our boys!" + +"But I must go if Dudley goes, I must!" and Roy's tone was passionate +now. "I won't have him go away from me--I've lost Rob, and that is bad +enough--You wouldn't take Dudley away from me, too, Aunt Judy!" + +"Hush, hush, we will not talk any more about it now. He will not go +till after Easter, and that won't be here yet." + +Miss Bertram was sorry she had broached the subject, when she saw Roy's +distress, and going downstairs sent Dudley up to play with him. + +Later on when she was sitting with her mother in the drawing-room a +small head appeared. "May I come in, granny?" + +It was Dudley, and his round and rosy face was unusually solemn. +Marching in he took up his position on the hearth-rug, his back to the +fire, and with his hands deep in his pockets, he turned his face rather +defiantly toward his grandmother. + +"Granny, I'm not going to school without Roy." + +"Hoighty-toity! What next, I wonder. Is that the way for little boys to +speak to their elders. You will do what you are told as long as you are +in my house, as your father did before you." + +"It is your stepfather's wish," put in Miss Bertram; "you ought to be +willing to obey him." + +"Not if he tells me to do something wrong. And I'm sure it would be +quite a wrong thing for me to go away from Roy. We have promised never +to leave each other till we grow up, and we don't mean to break our +promise. And, granny, I'm sure you don't like broken promises. Father +doesn't know about Roy, and he can't understand like I do, and it would +be very wrong of him if he took me away from Roy!" + +Mrs. Bertram put on her glasses and inspected her little grandson with +searching eyes. + +"That is a most disrespectful speech, Dudley. I shall of course uphold +your father's wishes." + +"But, granny, I can't leave Roy. It will break his heart. You don't know +how he frets about his leg. He doesn't say much and is always so +cheerful, but he misses me most awfully even if I'm away for a day. If +he was well and strong, he could get on first-rate, but he wouldn't get +about half so much if I didn't take him. I think he would mope and mope +all by himself. And I don't think we could live without each other. You +won't send me away, will you?" + +Tears were filling Dudley's blue eyes, but Mrs. Bertram looked +displeased. + +"In my days, children never thought of arguing with their elders. I +think your aunt and I are as capable of taking care of Roy as you are. +Now leave the room, and do not refer to the matter again." + +Then Dudley astonished his grandmother by the first exhibition of +temper that he had ever displayed before her. + +"I _won't_ be separated from Roy. If you send me to school, I shall run +away, and I shall write and tell father the reason!" + +A stamp of the foot emphasized this passionate speech, and then Dudley +fled from the room, banging the door violently behind him. + +As on a former occasion he now took himself and his grief to old +Principle. It was early-closing day in the village, and he found the old +man just locking up his door prepared for a ramble. + +"Come along up to the hills with me, laddie," he said, after hearing the +trouble; "there's nothing like fresh air for blowing away a fit of the +dumps. I am going to the cave again--will you come with me?" + +"Yes, I will. I've been in an awful temper in granny's room, and banged +her door. I don't think she'll ever forgive me!" + +"'Tis like this, Master Dudley," said old Principle, presently, as they +walked over the hills together; "if it's right for you to go, there's +nothing to be said, and you must fall in with it whether you like it or +no." + +"But it can't be right for me to leave Roy when he wants me." + +"It may be the best thing in the world for him and you, if it is to be. +'Tis a bad principle to determine whether a thing is right or wrong, +according to our liking." + +"It's a cruel thing to part us!" said Dudley, doggedly. + +"But may be a way will be found out of the difficulty by Master Roy +going with you." + +"They say he isn't strong enough. That wetting in the rain has made him +bad again." + +"Well now I should ask the good Lord to make him strong enough. There's +time between this and Easter." + +Dudley brightened up at once. + +"Do you think he might be strong enough? I should be able to take great +care of him, and I would, too. And he's so plucky, that I'm sure the +other boys would be good to him." + +The cave was reached, and in the interest of watching excavation going +on Dudley was soon his bright self again. + +He came home radiant, with a match-box full of tiny shells for Roy who +was waiting for him in the nursery. + +"You have been away a time," he said, wearily: "I'm sure I'm well enough +to go out now. I can't bear the winter. It means so many colds and +aches." + +"Well, you're going to get better very soon, and look here, old chap! If +you try your very best, perhaps the old doctor will give you leave to +come to school with me after Easter." + +Roy's eyes sparkled at the thought. + +"Nurse always makes such a molly-coddle of me, and so does granny; but +I'll try as hard as I can to be better." + +"And now just look at these! Old Principle says these show that the sea +must have washed up amongst the hills and into his cave hundreds of +years ago, for these belong to salt water fish not river ones. Look at +them! 'Fossils' he calls them, they're shells made out of stone. He told +me I might give you these from him. I thought he would never go back to +his cave again after last December, but he says he feels so much +stronger now; and he is very careful how he digs; he won't let me come +near him while he does it. And he told me he has been busy writing a +paper which he is going to send to some society in London--I forget its +name. He is what you call a discoverer, isn't he?" + +Roy nodded, then asked anxiously: + +"Dudley, were you rude to granny before you went out? Aunt Judy came to +look for you here, and she said she hoped you were going to beg granny's +pardon for something." + +"I'll go now, I had almost forgotten." + +And Dudley trotted off to his grandmother's room. She received him +sternly, but he was so abjectly penitent that she soon forgave him, and +he returned to Roy with a relieved mind. + +"It's a dreadful thing to have a temper," he remarked, as he sat upon +the nursery table swinging his legs to and fro; "I've given granny an +awful headache by the way I banged her door." + +"What was it about?" asked Roy, with interest. + +"About school," was the answer; "I told her I wasn't going away from +you." + +"I've been thinking of it a lot," said Roy, with a sigh; "but you'll +have to go, and I shall get on pretty well without you. You see a boy +with one leg wouldn't be much good amongst a lot of other boys. They +would only call him a cripple and push him aside. I shouldn't like them +to laugh at me. The only thing for me is a cripple school. Nurse has a +little grandson at one. I don't much care for cripples, those I've seen +seem very poor creatures with no fun in them, but of course I'm one +myself now; only I don't feel like it." + +"You're no more a cripple than I am," was Dudley's indignant rejoinder, +"why no one would tell anything was the matter with you to look at you." + +"We won't talk any more about it," said Roy, "I'm hungry and I hear tea +coming." + +But both the little hearts were very full of a possible separation, and +for some days after it lay like a heavy nightmare on them. Then a letter +arrived from Rob which turned the current of their thoughts. It was his +first letter from India, and the boys looked at the foreign stamps and +paper, as if it were the greatest rarity on earth. + + "MY DEAR MASTER ROY: + + "I write to tell you we are safely here + and I am quite well as I hope you are. It is + very hot, but we don't do much work in the + middle of the day and I like the place. I wish + you could see the flowers and the black men + and the funny houses and the colored dresses + of the people. I am getting on, I hope, and + my sergeant told me the other day I might + get the stripe soon if I liked. I will keep a + lookout as you told me for Master Dudley's + father, but they say India is a bigger place + than England, which I don't believe, for we're + the grandest nation in the world, and the biggest + and the best, all of us in the barrack-room + agree to that. I saw a scorpion to-day + which pinches when it catches you and draws + the blood awful. There is a mountain battery + with us now, and they use mules instead of + horses, the hills are higher than those at home + and it's hard work going up. There is not + any fighting yet, but I am ready for it when + it comes, and will do my duty to the Queen + and you. My chum has helped me write this + letter and I hope it pleases you. I am trying + to endure hardness. Good-bye, Master Roy, + + "Your faithful ROB. + + "God bless you." + +"That's a much nicer letter, isn't it?" said Roy, in great delight; +"that is quite as long as the one I sent him. I hope he will get some +fighting soon." + +"Supposing if he does, and gets killed?" suggested Dudley. + +But Roy put this thought away from him. + +"I've known such lots of soldiers in books that come home, that I think +he will. Besides God will take care of him. Do you remember the picture +gallery at the general's the other day, Dudley?" + +"Yes, what about it?" + +"I was thinking about that soldier there with all his medals who broke +his mother's heart; and then about the soldier boy the general said was +the bravest. I suppose I would rather Rob was properly brave like that, +than do great things in battle; but I should think he might do both, +don't you think so?" + +And Dudley nodded, adding, "Rob won't drink or gamble, I'm quite sure." + + + + +XVI + + +DAVID AND JONATHAN + +Easter came, and to the boys' great delight Roy was so much stronger +that it was settled he might accompany Dudley to a private boarding +school for one term. Thanks were due to Miss Bertram for this +arrangement; and she had great difficulty in obtaining her mother's +consent to it. + +"I am sure the boys will get on best together; Roy will have a better +chance of growing strong if he is with Dudley than if he is to mope by +himself here. If we find he does not keep well, we can have him home +again; and from all we hear of the school, the boys are most carefully +looked after." + +And certainly to judge from Roy's appearance and spirits, this plan +seemed most successful. It was a bright morning in April. The air was +cold but dry, and the old garden was sweet with the scent of hyacinths +and narcissuses. Bright beds of tulips and polyanthuses bordered the +green lawn, and old Hal was surveying the results of his work with pride +and satisfaction. Miss Bertram, in her leather gloves and garden apron, +was busy in and out of the hothouses; and the boys, after scampering +round in every one's way, had at last scrambled up to their favorite +seat on the garden wall. + +"This time next week we shall be at school," said Dudley; "how funny we +shall feel!" + +"We shan't be able to climb walls there, I suppose." + +"On half-holidays, perhaps we shall. It isn't all lessons; old Selby +told us the happiest time of his life was when he was at school." + +"I mean to be happy," said Roy, a smile hovering about his lips. + +"And so do I," maintained Dudley, stoutly; "but it will be awfully +strange at first. It's like Rob going off to be a soldier. We're going +out 'to see life' nurse says." + +"Old Principle wants us to come to tea with him before we go. I saw him +this morning going past our gate. He'll give us some of his good advice +like he did Rob, but I don't mind him, he's such a jolly old chap." + +There was silence between them for a few minutes. Dudley was eating a +slice of cake which he had brought out of the house with him, and Roy +was dreamily watching the figures of his aunt and the old gardener +moving about amongst the bright colored flower beds. + +"Dudley, we'll always keep friends, won't we?" + +"Of course we will." + +"But I dare say you'll have a lot of fellows at school who can get about +quicker with you than I can; and I don't want to keep you back. I only +want you to like me still best in your heart." + +"Now look here, old chap! You know that I couldn't like any other fellow +better than you. You're much more likely to have a lot of chums than I +am, because you're so clever. Look at Rob; he used to think nothing of +me at all, and I got to think you didn't want me with you, after he +came." + +"That was awful rot then, because we two are quite different to any +other people. Only it would be a good thing to have a fresh promise +together; a kind of Bible covenant, you know, before we go to school." + +"All right, here goes, then! Let us have your fists--now then, hear me! +I, Dudley Bertram, vow and declare that Fitz Roy Bertram shall continue +to be my dearest and nearest chum from this time forth, forevermore. +Amen." + +Roy grasped Dudley's hands eagerly and earnestly, and repeated his vow +in the same words, perhaps with additional emphasis; then with a sigh of +relief, he turned to chatter of other things. + +Shortly after Miss Bertram came up to them with a newspaper in her +hand. + +"Granny has just sent out this paper to me, boys. She thought you would +like to know that the troops in the place where Rob is, have all been +sent out on some expedition against a rebel chief in the mountains, so +he will have some fighting now." + +"Hurrah!" shouted Dudley, "don't I wish I was with him! Does the +newspaper mention his name, Aunt Judy?" + +"When shall we have a letter from him?" + +"Not for some time yet, because this is telegraphed. It will be all over +before we hear. We must hope and pray that Rob may be kept safely +through it." + +Miss Bertram looked grave, and the boys sobered down at once. + +"But, Aunt Judy, of course fighting is dreadful, but it is a soldier's +duty, isn't it?" + +"And Rob is sure to do his duty." + +"Yes, boys, we will hope he will serve his Queen as well as he served us +whilst here. Rob was a good boy: I wish there were more like him." + +And Miss Bertram moved away, whilst her little nephews worked off their +excitement at this news, by jumping down from the wall, and performing a +mimic battle in the pine wood outside. Very eagerly and impatiently did +they look for a letter before they went off to school, but none came; +and the last word that Roy said as he was leaving the house was,-- + +"Mind, Aunt Judy, you send on my letter when it comes as quick as +lightning!" + +It was rather an ordeal for both the boys when the last leave-takings of +all at home came. The old nurse wept profusely, and was only comforted +by the assurance that she should go to her charges on the very first +intimation of illness. Mrs. Bertram gave them such warnings against +choosing evil companions, and becoming depraved in principles, that the +boys were quite awed and depressed; and the servants, one and all, +expressed such pity and sympathy for their departure, that Dudley at +last confided to Roy: + +"If we were going to prison they couldn't look more shocked and gloomy." + +General Newton insisted upon taking them himself to school. + +"It looks well," he said to Miss Bertram, a little pompously; "for the +boys to have a man at their back, and I will have a few words with the +principal myself about Roy's delicacy of constitution. It will come with +more force from me than from you." + +So the general was allowed to have his way, and by the time the boys +were in the train with a large packet of sandwiches and cakes to while +away the time, their spirits rose, and they declared that going off to +school was "the jolliest thing out." + +It was late in the evening when they reached their destination. The +school was not far from the sea, and the clergyman who kept it would +never have more than thirty boarders; his wife, a sweet-faced +gentlewoman, received the boys most kindly, and General Newton came away +satisfied that it would prove a happy home as well as a good training +for the motherless boys. + +Dudley and Roy were not long in making themselves at home; their high +spirits made them general favorites amongst the boys; and even Roy did +not feel himself out of place in the playground, whilst in the +schoolroom he proved a quick and intelligent pupil. + +"The boys are happy, mother," said Miss Bertram one morning going into +her mother's room and handing her two letters; "and Mrs. Hawthorn has +written most favorably of them both." + +"I should think so," said Mrs. Bertram, stiffly, who though sternness +itself to her grandsons was most indignant if any one dared to say a +word against them to her; "they would not be true Bertrams if they were +not favorites with all." + +She opened the letters and read-- + + "DEAR AUNT JUDY: + + "It's our hour for home letters. We + like it here awfully. Mrs. Hawthorn is a brick, + she lets me come into the drawing-room with + her whenever I am tired, but I've only been + in once yet because I like to watch the boys + play best. I can bowl at cricket and bat too, + and I give a boy called 'Gnat' twopence a + game to do my runs for me. I'm collecting + birds' eggs. There's a boy here who has got + 250 of them. I mean to find a sea gull's nest, + and then he'll swap twenty of his with me for + one gull's, because he has never got one yet. + There is a boy called 'Simple Simon,' he + thinks I am a wonder because I let him run + pins into my cork leg and never cry out. He + does not know it's a sham leg and I shan't tell + him. We should like another hamper very + soon, please. Cook's gingerbread was A1. + Give my love to granny, and tell her I take my + tonic when I go to bed every night. Give my + love to nurse. Tell old Principle Mr. Hawthorn + would like to know such a clever man + and see his cave. Send me Rob's letter + directly it comes, please. We do drill in the + gymnasium. + + "Your loving nephew + + "FITZ ROY BERTRAM." + + DEAR AUNT JUDY: + + "This is an awfully jolly school. I'd + like you to be one of the boys. We are going + to have a paper chase next Thursday, and I bet + I'll lick some of the chaps at running. Roy + and I sleep in the next beds to each other. I + look after him when he will let me, he is top + of his class and Tom Hunter says he is a plucky + chap. Hunter is captain of the eleven. We + go to bathe every morning down by the sea, + and Hunter says his father is going to give + him a boat of his own in the summer. There + is a jolly tuck shop in the town. We can go + to it every Saturday. There is a boy here + called 'Fishy,' he wants to be my chum but I + like one called 'Cheshire Cat' better, but I + have no chum but Roy. Old Hawthorn only + canes for lies. A boy got caned last night, + and blubbered like a baby before he went in. + I send my love to granny, and all of you. Roy + expects Rob's letter every day. + + "Your loving nephew + + "DUDLEY. + + "P.S. Hunter says our cake has made his + mouth water for the next." + + + + +XVII + + +ROY'S BIG OPPORTUNITY + +"Roy, Mrs. Hawthorn wants you. She has got some letters for you." + +Dudley came up excitedly to Roy, directly after dinner was over one +Saturday afternoon. + +"And I say," he continued; "bring them out and let us go down to the +beach to read them together. The tide will be out till the evening." + +Roy hastened off, and wondered at Mrs. Hawthorn's grave look. + +"Your aunt has sent me some letters to give you, Roy. She has only just +received them herself. They are about your friend in India." + +"From Rob?" said Roy, with sparkling eyes. "Oh, I thought he never would +write. How jolly! And I see his writing, that's my letter." + +He held out his hand eagerly but Mrs. Hawthorn laid her hand on his +shoulder gently. + +"Yes, that was a letter he wrote to you before the fighting. Your aunt +has heard since--from a nurse who nursed him." + +Something in her tone frightened Roy. + +"Has he been wounded? He is well again, isn't he?" + +"He is quite well now," she said, in a hushed voice. + +For a minute Roy gazed at her, with horror and doubt dawning in his dark +eyes, then snatching the letters out of her hand he rushed out of the +room; and seizing hold of Dudley in the hall he exclaimed almost +frantically: + +"Dudley, something awful has happened to Rob, let us get away from the +house and read these letters." + +He held them tightly in his hand, and would not let Dudley take them +from his grasp, till they reached the beach. + +Then sitting down and leaning against an old weather-beaten rock, Roy, +with trembling fingers, first unfolded Rob's letter to himself. + + "MY DEAR MASTER ROY: + + "We are going up to the mountains to-morrow + to fight. The men say it will be stiff + work, driving an old chief from his stronghold. + Some of them don't like it, but I am + ready. I am a better writer now, I hope, so + want to tell you what I never have yet. I do + thank you with all my heart for being so kind + to a homeless lad and taking him in and giving + him a happy home. And I thank you + much more for teaching him to read and write + and giving up your playtime to get him on. + But if I was to thank you for a hundred years, + I couldn't thank you enough for telling me + about my Saviour and showing me the way to + heaven. Every word you ever said is sticking + to me. I mind all our talks, and if I may + have had some rough times in trying to serve + God first, I have been as happy as a king. + And I have found that the Lord has kept me + through the worst times, and I love Him with + all my heart. When I get to heaven I shall + be able to thank you proper. I do feel thankful + to you and Master Dudley. And now + good-bye and God bless you. + + "Your faithful ROB forever." + +Roy read this through. + +"He's all right, Dudley. What did she mean? Why did she look so funny?" + +Dudley shook his head. + +"I don't know, read what Aunt Judy says." + +Roy spread out his aunt's letter, and read it in unfaltering tones to +the end. + + "MY POOR DEAR LITTLE JONATHAN: + + "If granny were not really very unwell + I should have come straight off to soften the + blow to you, but I send the letters which I + have just received, and I have asked Mrs. + Hawthorn to explain them to you. You must + be comforted by knowing that our dear Rob + has proved himself a hero and died a hero's + death. I know you would like to see the + nurse's letter written from the hospital, and I + also send you one from the major of his regiment + who used to know me years ago. I know + you will be a brave boy and bear this trouble + like a man. Tell Dudley to write to me by + the first post to tell me you have got the letters + safely. + + "Your loving aunt, + + "JULIA BERTRAM." + +The letter dropped from Roy's grasp, and he flung himself down on the +beach face foremost. + +Dudley sat staring out at the sea without speaking. The blow had fallen +so heavily, and so unexpectedly, that speech was not forthcoming. + +At last Roy looked up. + +"You read the other letters to me, Dudley," he said, in a choked voice. + +And Dudley, with a good deal of hesitation and effort interrupted by +tears, read out as follows: + + "DEAR MADAM: + + "I have been asked to write to you + about Robert White who I am sorry to say + was brought into the military hospital the + other day dangerously wounded. He lingered + three days and was perfectly conscious up to + the last. I never saw a braver or more patient + lad. He told me all about your goodness to + him, and his devotion to a little nephew of + yours was most touching. His name was always + on his lips. He asked me to tell you the + circumstances of his death, and added, 'She + will tell Master Roy, I have tried to do my + duty. And I will be waiting now in heaven to + welcome him. I would have liked to be his servant, + but God wants me, and God comes first.' + I heard from his sergeant the details of the + engagement. A small party of them--White + among them--had been ordered to go and + take a certain mountain pass, and their officer + in command was shot just before they reached + it. I wish I could give you the account in the + sergeant's own words as he told it me. I will + try. 'We were marching up in single file, for + the pass was a very narrow one. Through + the clefts round it, we saw projecting the enemy's + bayonets and spears, and we knew it + was certain death for the first one in our + ranks. I led the men, and I tell you, Mum, it + was a cold-blooded way of meeting one's + death, worse than in the fiercest battle fighting + shoulder to shoulder! I pulled myself together, + tried to say a prayer and marched on, + wondering where I should be the next minute, + when suddenly before I knew where I was, + Corporal White had placed himself in front of + me. "You are not ready, sergeant," he said; + "I am, let me take your place." It wasn't time + to stand arguing, but I tell you I felt queer + when I saw the lad stretched for dead under + my feet. We had a sharp skirmish, but we + drove the enemy back, and the first one I + went to look for was White.' + + "The sergeant told me this with a sob in + his voice; he added that for months he had + ridiculed White for his religion and tried to + drive it out of him. But he came every morning + to the hospital, and I saw him on his knees + by White's bedside, offering up a prayer that + he might be made a different man. + + "And now I must try to give you more details + about White himself. I asked him if I + could do anything for him the last day he was + alive and then he asked me to write to you. + He kept the photo of your little nephew under + his pillow, and more than once he murmured--'God + first, the Queen next, and then Master + Roy--I'll be a faithful servant if I can!' + Toward evening I saw he was sinking. I said + 'Are you comfortable, corporal?' and he looked + up with such a radiant smile: 'Safe in the + arms of Jesus,' he murmured, and those were + his last words. From what I have heard from + those who knew him out here, I gather that + his life was a singularly pure and upright one, + and that young as he was he had influenced + more than one careless drinking man to turn + over a new leaf, and be the same as he was. I + am forwarding his Bible and small belongings + by this mail. + + "Believe me, dear madam, + + "Yours faithfully, + + "ROSE SMITH--Sister in Charge." + +Roy listened to this with breathless interest, his eyes shining through +his tears. + +"Oh, Dudley, how splendid! oh, Rob, you have been a brave soldier, but I +shall never, never see you again!" + +Down went the little head and a torrent of tears burst forth; whilst +Dudley laying his curly head against his cousin's joined him in his +weeping. One more letter remained to be read and this was the major's-- + + "DEAR MISS BERTRAM: + + "Having heard from you that one of + my men was a protege of yours, I take the + opportunity of saying a word for the poor + young fellow. He has been an exemplary + character since he came into the regiment, and + has, I hear, been a general favorite from his + extreme good nature, in spite of being a religious + lad. His influence was felt by all his + comrades who came in contact with him, and + I feel we have lost a smart and promising soldier. + The sister in the hospital tells me she is + writing particulars of his death. My sergeant + is very much cut up over it. + + "With kind regards, + + "Believe me, yours truly, + + "W.A. ALDRIDGE--Major." + +"And that's all," said Dudley, mournfully; "why, I can't believe Rob is +dead--we never knew he was ill." + +Roy took up the letter, and read through Rob's again. Then he looked +across the blue ocean in front of him. + +"Just read me that bit of the nurse's letter of the fight, Dudley. Can't +you think of him marching up to the enemy?" + +Dudley read the desired bit, and then with a deep drawn breath Roy said: + +"He acted out the song of the drummer boys, didn't he? He marched on to +meet his death like they did. I wonder how it felt. Could you have put +yourself in front of the sergeant, Dudley?" + +"If you had been the sergeant, I could," was the prompt reply. + +"But the sergeant hadn't been kind to him. Oh, Rob, Rob." + +"Don't cry so, old chap, you'll make yourself ill. He's happy now. +Don't you think we'd better be going in?" + +But Roy would not leave the beach till the tea bell sounded, and then he +crept in with such a white, weary face that kind Mrs. Hawthorn put him +straight to bed, and stayed with him listening to his trouble till tired +out and exhausted he fell asleep. When Dudley came to bed he found him +clutching the letters tight in one hand, and muttering in his sleep, +"God first, the Queen next, and then Master Roy!" + +Once in the night he was roused by Roy's grasping hold of his +bedclothes. + +"Dudley, are you asleep?" + +"No," was the sleepy answer, "aren't you well?" + +"Yes, but I can't sleep. Tell me, was it my fault? Did I send Rob to his +death? I wanted him to go. Did I make him go?" + +"Of course you didn't," and Dudley now was wide-awake. "He wanted to go +first, and you didn't like it, don't you remember?" + +"Yes, I think he liked going; but if he hadn't heard that song perhaps +he would never have gone, he would never have wanted to be a soldier." + +"He did a lot of good out there. I don't think he will be sorry now." + +Roy settled down to sleep again comforted; but for the next few days he +seemed quite unable to give his mind to his lessons, and after some +correspondence with Miss Bertram, it was arranged that he and Dudley +should go home from Saturday to Monday. It was a sad home-coming, and +when Roy saw Rob's Bible his grief burst out afresh. The pages showed +how much they had been studied, but no verse was more marked than the +one Roy had given him. "Endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus +Christ." + +On Sunday evening the boys paid a visit to old Principle. They had been +talking about Rob, when Roy said wistfully, + +"Rob used his opportunity when he got it, didn't he? I expect he didn't +know what a hero he was. I wonder if I shall ever get one come to me. I +should like to do something great for God, and great for my country. I +shall never give up wishing for a great opportunity to come to me!" + +Then old Principle spoke, and his tone was very solemn: + +"'Tis not I that will make you proud and uplifted, laddie, but you have +been given the grandest opportunity that ever a poor mortal could be +given, and you've taken it and made use of it, thank the Lord!" + +Both boys gazed up at him with open eyes and mouths. + +Dudley said after a minute's thought: + +"We've both had some little opportunities, and Roy has had the biggest. +He saved me from drowning, and he went into the cave to fetch you!" + +"Those weren't proper opportunities," muttered Roy in scorn, "they +aren't worth remembering; not after what Rob has done." + +"Yes, the opportunity I'm talking of was a grander one than them, though +old Principle can't forget he owes his life perhaps to both of you boys' +thought of him. 'Tis what the Lord Himself left His throne in heaven +for," the old man proceeded in the same solemn tones; "'tis the one +thing, the only thing we're told brings joy to the happy ones above; nay +to the Almighty Himself, and 'tis wonderful that He will let us have the +part in it we do!" + +"What do you mean?" questioned Roy awed and puzzled by old Principle's +manner. + +"I mean this, laddie, you had an opportunity of leading an ignorant soul +to the feet of his Saviour; of enlisting a soldier not only in the +Queen's service but in the service of the King of Kings; of being the +means of filling an empty barren soul with a flood of light and +gladness; and of sending out a missionary in the midst of ungodliness +and vice, to turn many from the error of their ways. Is it not a greater +honor to help to save a soul from destruction, than bring glory to +yourself by some feat of physical strength or skill? Thank the Lord on +your knees to-night, that He sent you the opportunity you were always +hankering after; and thank Him He gave you the grace to seize hold of +it, and make use of it for His Glory, not your own!" + +Old Principle's burst of eloquence almost startled the boys, and they +received it in silence; but later on, as they were walking home in the +cool of the evening Roy linked his arm in Dudley's and said softly-- + +"I see it all now. My broken leg and everything. It was when I was too +weak to go out with you, that Rob and I used to talk over these things." + +And Dudley replied, with an emphatic nod, "Yes, though you didn't know +it, Rob was your big opportunity." + + +FINIS. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of His Big Opportunity, by Amy Le Feuvre + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HIS BIG OPPORTUNITY *** + +***** This file should be named 11470.txt or 11470.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/4/7/11470/ + +Produced by Joel Erickson, Michael Ciesielski, Amy Petri and PG +Distributed Proofreaders + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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