"things are getting more and more serious, patsey," said jean one evening. "i don't know what will come of it. the excitement is spreading here, and there can be no doubt that there will be very serious troubles, ere long. the greater portion of the people here are with the assembly, and approve of all these decrees against the priests, and the persecution of the better classes. you know what has taken place in paris, and i fear that it will be repeated here.

"we are split up. my father, dear good man, thinks that he has only to attend to his business, and to express no opinion whatever about public affairs, and that the storm will pass quietly over his head. my brother has thrown himself heart and soul--that is to say, as far as he has a heart to throw--into what he calls the cause of the people; and which i consider to be the cause of revolution, of confiscation, of irreligion, and abomination generally.

"i am told that my name has freely been mentioned, in his club, as that of a dangerous man, with opinions contrary to the public good. i hear, too, that that brother of mine was there, at the time; and that he got up and said that in a case like this his voice must be silent, that true patriots place their country before all things; and then affected to speak mildly in my favour, but at the same time doing me as much harm as he could. i believe the fellow is capable of denouncing his own father.

"from the bocage i hear that the whole country is in confusion. the people, of course, side with their priests. the nobles and land owners are naturally royalists, and are furious that the king should be held in what is practically subjection; by men of low degree, and who, although they may have some virtuous men among them, have also sanguinary scoundrels who gradually gain in power, and will soon be supreme.

"they, however, can do nothing at present. the peasants know nothing about the king, to them he is a mere name; but this persecution of their priests angers them greatly; and if, as is said, orders have been given to raise an army, and to drag men away from their homes whether they like to go or not, you may be sure that, ere long, there will be trouble there.

"now you see, dear, i am a sort of double character. at sea i am captain jean martin, a peaceful trader with, as you know, but little regard for the revenue laws of your country. on the other hand, in la vendee i am monsieur jean martin, a landed proprietor, and on friendly terms with all the nobles and gentry in my neighbourhood. it is evident that i cannot continue to play this double part. already great numbers of arrests have been made here, and the prisons are half full. i hear that a commissioner from the assembly is expected here shortly, to try these suspects, as they are called; and from what we know already, we may be sure that there will be little mercy shown.

"they are almost all people of substance; and the people, as they call themselves, are on principle opposed to men of substance. now, if i remain here, i have no doubt that i shall be denounced in a very short time; and to be denounced is to be thrown into prison, and to be thrown into prison is equivalent to being murdered. i have no doubt, patsey, that you would share my fate. the fact that you are an englishwoman was among the accusations brought against me, in the club; and although, so far as i can see, the majority of these scoundrels have no religion whatever, they venture to make it a matter of complaint that you are a protestant.

"i have seen this coming on for some time, and must now make my choice; either i must take you and the child over to england, and leave you there with your father until these troubles are over, while i must myself go down and look after my tenantry, and bear my share in whatever comes; or you must go down there with me."

"certainly i will go down with you, jean. it is your home, and whatever dangers may come i will share them with you. it would be agony to be in england, and to know nothing of what is passing here, and what danger might be threatening you. we took each other for better or worse, jean, and the greater danger you may be in, the more it will be my duty to be by your side.

"i should be very happy down at the chateau. more happy than i have been here with you, for some time past; for one cannot but be very anxious, when one sees one's friends thrown into prison, and knows that you are opposed to all these things, and that it may be your turn next. nothing would persuade me to leave you."

"very well, wife, so be it. i am sure that there, at least, we shall be safe. it is only in the towns that these rascals are dangerous, and in a country like ours there is little fear that the knaves will venture to interfere, when they see that they are stirring up a nest of hornets. they have plenty of work to satisfy even their taste for confiscation and murder, in the large towns. there is an army gathering, on the frontier, and they will have their hands full, ere long.

"and now, about leigh. my brother has always shown a dislike for him and, as it is certain that he cannot remain here, he must either return to england or go with us."

"i am sure that he would choose to go with us, jean. you say yourself that he talks french like a native now, and although he has often told me that he would never settle in france--for naturally he is as horrified as i am with the doings in paris, and the other great towns--still i am sure that he would choose to remain with us, now. you see, he is strong and active, and has made so many trips with you, that he is almost a sailor. he is within a few months of sixteen, and of late he has several times said to me that he would like to go some long voyages, and have some adventures, before settling down in business, in england, as an agent of your house."

"i should like to have him with us," jean said heartily. "in the first place, he is a lad after my own heart, full of life and go, and already strong enough to take his own part; in the next place, although i hope for the best, a man can never say exactly what will take place. i may be away at times, and should be glad to know that you had a protector; and if he is willing to go, i shall be more than willing to have him.

"then, too, it would be useful to have someone whom one could trust to carry messages. my idea is that i shall not leave the lugger here for, if i am denounced, it would certainly be seized. pierre lefaux, my mate, is a shrewd as well as a faithful fellow. i shall appoint him captain. i shall tell him to leave here, at once, and employ the lugger in coasting voyages; making bordeaux his headquarters, and taking what freights he can get between that town and rochelle, brest, or other ports on this coast. so long as he does not return here, he might even take wines across to england, or brandy from charente. he knows his business well and, as long as we are at peace with england, trade will still go on.

"the best thing would be for him to be at bordeaux once every fortnight, or three weeks, so that we shall know where to find him. i have a great friend at bordeaux, and shall get him to have the lugger registered in his name, and give him a receipt for her purchase money; so that in case the people here learn that she is trading at bordeaux, he will be able to prove that she is his own property. then, if the very worst should come, which i cannot bring myself to believe, there will be a means of escape for us all to england.

"she will be sailing there in two or three days. i have fifty thousand francs lying in my father's hands. i shall send that over by lefaux, and instruct him to ask your father to go with him to the bank, at poole, and pay the money in to my account. then, if we should have to leave france, we shall have that to fall back upon, and the lugger. i should, of course, transfer her to the english flag, and have no doubt that we should be able to get on very fairly. so you see, i am preparing for all contingencies, patsey."

"it seems very dreadful that the country should be in such a state, jean."

"it is dreadful, and i am afraid that things have by no means got to the worst, yet.

"ah, here comes leigh! after supper i shall go in and have a talk with my father. i have very little hope of having much success with him; but at least, when he sees the steps that i am taking, it cannot but make him think seriously of his own position, and that of my mother and sisters."

leigh was delighted when he heard jean's proposal. his own position had been unpleasant, of late. he had long since ceased to go to jacques martin, for the dislike between them was mutual and, do what he would, he failed to give satisfaction. and of late, even in monsieur martin's cellars and storehouses, he had met with a good deal of unpleasantness; and would have met with more, had it not been that he had, on one occasion, knocked down one of the chief clerks, who had sworn at him for some trifling act of carelessness. as the clerk knew that the merchant would have been very angry at the insult he had offered to leigh, he had not ventured to make a complaint; but in many ways he had been able to cause numberless petty annoyances. many of the others were inclined to follow his lead, and would have done so more openly, were it not that they held in respect leigh's strength, and readiness in the science they called le boxe.

the talk that there might be troubles in la vendee heightened his satisfaction at leaving nantes, and going down to stay in the country. the thought of a life spent at poole, or weymouth, as a wine merchant and agent of the house of martin had, for some time past, been unpleasant to him. the feeling of general unrest that prevailed in france had communicated itself to him, and he thought possibly that something might occur which would change the current of his life, and lead to one more suited to his natural activity and energy.

"you had better pack up quietly, tomorrow," jean said to his wife, after his return from his father's. "if there were any suspicion that i was thinking of going away, it might bring matters to a head. i will get the lugger's boat down to the wharf, and four sailors shall come up here and take the boxes down, in one of the hand carts, with a tarpaulin thrown over them. i will arrange for a cart and a carriage to be waiting for us, on the other side of the river.

"there is no moving my father. he cannot persuade himself that a man who takes no part in politics, and goes about his business quietly, can be in any danger. he has, however, at my mother's entreaty, agreed for the present to cease buying; and to diminish his stock as far as possible, and send the money, as fast as he realizes it, across to england. he says, too, that he will, if things get worse, send her and my sister to england. i promised him that your father would find them a house, and see that they were settled comfortably there, for a time. he would not believe that jacques could have been at the club when i was denounced, without defending me; for although himself greatly opposed to the doings in paris, and annoyed at the line jacques has taken up, he thought that there was at least this advantage in it--that in case of troubles coming here, he would have sufficient influence to prevent our being in any way molested. however, there can be no question that i have, to some extent, alarmed him; and he agreed not only to draw, tomorrow, my fifty thousand francs from his caisse, but to send over with it a hundred thousand francs of his own. fortunately he can do this without jacques knowing anything about it, for although jacques and i have both a share in the business, he has always kept the management of the money matters in his own hands.

"so that is settled, as far as it can be settled. fortunately the club does not meet this evening, so there is no fear of a demand being made, by it, for my arrest tomorrow. i have a friend who belongs to it--not, i think, because he at all agrees with its views; but because, like many others, he deems it prudent to appear to do so. it was from him that i heard what had passed there, and he promised to give me warning of anything that might be said, or done, against me. i shall go down to the lugger early, and remain on board all day, seeing to the stowage of the cargo we are taking on board, so that no suspicion can arise that i am thinking of leaving for the country."

the next evening the party started by unfrequented streets for the quay, the nurse carrying the child, now three months old. the boxes had gone half an hour before. it was nearly ten o'clock, and the quays were deserted. monsieur martin had himself gone down, in the afternoon, with the money to the lugger, and handed it over to jean, and had a long talk with him and pierre lefaux, to whom jean had also intrusted letters from himself and patsey, to the squire.

as soon as the party had taken their seats in the boat, it was rowed two miles up the river, to a point where there was a ferry across to a road, leading into the heart of la vendee. here a light waggon and a carriage were waiting. the luggage was transferred to the former and, after a hearty farewell to pierre lefaux, who had himself come in charge of the boat, they started on their journey; and arrived at the chateau at nine o'clock in the morning, to the surprise of the man and woman in charge of it.

"here we are safe," jean said, as they alighted from the carriage. "it would take nothing short of an army to fight its way through these woods and lanes and, if the assembly try to interfere with us, they will find it a much easier thing to pull down the throne of france, than to subdue la vendee."

the news that the master had come down, and that he was going for a time to live among them, spread rapidly; and in the course of the day some fifteen of the tenants came in to pay their respects, few of them arriving without some little offering in the way of game, poultry, butter, or other produce.

"our larder is full enough for us to stand a siege," patsey said, laughing, "and i know that we have a good stock of wine in the cellar, jean."

"yes, and of cider, too. when the tenants are in any difficulty about paying their rents, i am always willing to take it out in wine or cider; for my father deals in both, and therefore it is as good as money. but i have not sent any to nantes for the past two or three years and, as you say, the cellars are as full as they can hold.

"tomorrow, leigh, we will ride over and call upon some of our neighbours to hear the last news, for the bocage is as far away from nantes as if it were on the other side of france, and we hear only vague rumours of what is going on here."

the ride was a delightful one to leigh. he had only once visited the chateau before, and then only for a day or two. the wild country, with its deep lanes, its thick high hedges, its woods and copses, was all new to him; for the country round his english home was, for the most part, bare and open. some of the peasants carried guns over their shoulders, and looked as if accustomed to use them.

"very few of them possess guns," jean martin remarked, "and that they should carry them shows how disturbed a state of mind all these people are in. they know that their priests may be arrested and carried off, at any moment; and no doubt the report that an order has been issued to raise thirty thousand men throughout france, and that every town and village has to furnish its quota, has stirred them up even more effectually. i don't suppose that many of them think that the authorities will really try to drag men off, against their will; but the possibility is quite enough to inflame their minds."

at the very first house they visited they received, from the owner, ample confirmation of jean's views.

"there have been continual fracases between the peasants and the military," he said, "over the attempts of the latter to arrest the priests. they can scarcely be called fights, for it has not come to that; but as soon as the peasants hear that the gendarmes are coming, they send the priest into the wood, and gather in such force that the gendarmes are glad enough to ride away, unharmed. of course, until we see that the peasants are really in earnest, and intend to fight to the last, it would be madness for any of us to take any part in the matter; for we should be risking not only life but the fortunes of our families, and maybe their lives, too. you must remember, moreover, that already a great number of the landed proprietors have either been murdered or imprisoned in paris, or are fugitives beyond the frontier."

"if the peasants would fight," jean martin said, "it might not be a bad thing that there are so few whom they could regard as their natural leaders. if there are only a few leaders they may act together harmoniously, or each operate in his own district; but with a number of men of the same rank, or nearly of the same rank, each would have his own ideas as to what should be done, and there would be jealousy and discord."

"that is true," the other replied. "of course, if this were an open country it would be necessary, to give us a chance of success, that some sort of discipline should be established; and none could persuade the peasants to submit to discipline, except their own lords. but in a country like this, discipline is of comparatively little importance; and it is well that it is so, for though i believe that the peasants would fight to the death, rather than submit to be dragged away by force from their homes, they will never keep together for any time."

"i am afraid that that will be the case. we must hope that it will not come to fighting but, if it does, it will take a large force to conquer la vendee."

"what has brought you down here, monsieur martin?"

"it was not safe for me to stay longer in nantes. if i think a thing i say it, and as i don't think well of what is being done in paris, i have not been in the habit of saying flattering things about the men there. in fact i have been denounced and, as there is still room for a few more in the prisons, i should have had a cell placed at my disposal, if i had remained there many more hours; so i thought that i should be safer, down here, till there was some change in the state of affairs."

"and you brought madame down with you?"

"assuredly. i had only the choice open to me of sending her across to england, and of making my home there, or of coming here. if there had been no prospect of trouble here, i might have joined the army of our countrymen who are in exile; but as, from all i heard, la vendee was ready to take up arms, i determined to come here; partly because, had i left the country, my estates here would have been confiscated; partly because i should like to strike a blow, myself, at these tyrants of paris, who seem bent on destroying the whole of the aristocracy of france, of wiping out the middle classes, and dividing the land and all else among the scum of the towns."

three or four months passed quietly. there were occasional skirmishes between the peasants, and parties of troops in search of priests who refused to obey the orders of the assembly. at nantes, the work of carrying out mock trials, and executing those of the better classes who had been swept into the prisons, went on steadily. from time to time a message came to jean, from his father, saying that he had carried out his determination to lessen his stocks, and that he had sent considerable sums of money across the channel. so far he had not been molested, but he saw that the public madness was increasing, and the passion for blood ever growing.

then came the news of the execution of the king, which sent a thrill of horror through the loyal province. shortly afterwards it was known that the decree for the raising of men was to be enforced; and that commissioners had already arrived at saumur with a considerable force, that would be employed, if necessary; but that the process of drawing the names of those who were to go was to be carried out by the local authorities, assisted by the national guards of the towns.

during the winter things had gone on quietly, at the chateau. there had been but little visiting, for the terrible events passing in paris, and in all the large towns, and the uncertainty about the future, had cast so deep a gloom over the country that none thought of pleasure, or even of cheerful intercourse with their neighbours. many of the gentry, too, had given up all hope; and had made their way down to the coast, and succeeded in obtaining a passage in smuggling craft, or even in fishing boats, to england.

jean martin and leigh had spent much of their time in shooting. game was abundant and, as so many of the chateaux were shut up, they had a wide range of country open to them for sport. once or twice they succeeded in bringing home a wild boar. wolves had multiplied in the forests for, during the last three years, the regular hunts in which all the gentry took part had been abandoned, and the animals had grown fearless.

one day, soon after the news of the king's death had been received, jean, who had ridden over to saumur on business, brought back the news that war had been declared with england.

"it would have made a good deal of difference to me," he said, "if i had still been on board the lugger; for of course there would be an end to all legitimate trade. however, no doubt i should have managed to run a cargo, sometimes; for they will want brandy and tobacco all the more, when regular trade is at an end; and prices, you may be sure, will go up. i have no doubt, too, that there will be a brisk business in carrying emigrants over. still, of course the danger would be very much greater. hitherto we have only had the revenue cutters and the coast guards to be afraid of, now every vessel of war would be an enemy."

as during their expeditions they were generally accompanied by half a dozen peasants, who acted as beaters, leigh had come to understand the patois, and to some extent to speak it; and he often paid visits to the houses of the principal tenants of the estate, who not only welcomed him as the brother of their mistress, but soon came to like him for himself, and were amused by his high spirits, his readiness to be pleased with everything, and his talk to them of the little known country across the water.

it was evident, from the manner in which the drawing for the conscription was spoken of, that it would not be carried out without a strong resistance. sunday, the tenth of march, had been fixed for the drawing and, as the day approached, the peasants became more and more determined that they would not permit themselves to be dragged away from their homes.

three days before, a party of the tenants, together with some from adjoining estates, had come up to the chateau. jean martin at once came out to them.

"we have come, monsieur, to ask if you will lead us. we are determined that we will not be carried off like sheep."

"there you are right," jean said; "but although i shall be ready to do my share of fighting, i do not wish to be a leader. in the first place, there are many gentlemen of far larger possessions and of higher rank than myself, who would naturally be your leaders. there is the marquis de lescure at clisson, and with him are several other noble gentlemen, among them henri de la rochejaquelein--he is a cavalry officer. his family have emigrated, but he has remained here on his estates. then, too, you have many other military officers who have served. there is monsieur de bonchamp, monsieur d'elbee, and monsieur dommaigne, all of whom have served in the army. if the insurrection becomes general, i shall head my own tenants, and join the force under some chosen commander; but i shall not appear as a leader. not only am i altogether ignorant of military affairs but, were it known in nantes that i was prominent in the rising, they would undoubtedly avenge themselves upon my relations there."

it was known that artillery and gendarmes had been gathered in all the towns of la vendee. two days before that appointed for the drawing, jean said to leigh:

"i shall ride tomorrow to the castle of clisson. i know monsieur de lescure. he has wide influence, and is known to be a devoted royalist, and to have several royalist refugees now at his house. i shall be able to learn, from him, whether his intention is to take part in the insurrection. it is a long ride, and i shall not return until tomorrow.

"if you like, you can ride north to saint florent. if there should be any tumult, i charge you not to take any part in it. you had better leave your horse at some cabaret on this side of the town, and go in on foot. it is possible that there will be no trouble there, for they are sure to have made preparations against it; and it is more likely that there will be disturbances at smaller places. still, it will be interesting to mark the attitude of the peasants.

"you see, if there is to be a war, it is their war. the gentlemen here would have fought for the king, had there been a shadow of a prospect of success, and had he given the smallest encouragement to his friends to rally to his support. they might even have fought against the disturbance of the clergy. but they would have had no followers. the peasants cared but little for the king and, though they did care enough for the priests to aid them to escape, they did not care enough to give battle for them. they are now going to fight for their own cause, and for their own liberty. they have to show us that they are in earnest about it, before we join them. if they are in earnest, we ought to be successful. we ought to be able to put a hundred thousand men in arms and, in such a country as this, we should be able to defy any force that the convention can send against us; and to maintain the right of la vendee to hold itself aloof from the doings of the rest of france.

"but, as i said, until we know that they are really in earnest, we cannot afford to throw in our lot with them; so if you go to saint florent, keep well away from the point where the drawing is to take place. watch affairs from a distance. i have little doubt that those who go will go with the determination of defending themselves, but whether they will do so will depend upon whether there is one among them energetic enough to take the lead. that is always the difficulty in such matters. if there is a fight we must, as i say, simply watch it. it is, at present, no affair of ours. if it begins, we shall all have our work before us, plenty of it, and plenty of danger and excitement, but for the present we have to act as spectators."

it was a ride of fifteen miles to saint florent and, although leigh had twice during the winter ridden there with jean, he had some difficulty in finding his way through the winding roads and numerous lanes along which he had to pass. during the early part of the ride he met with but few people on the way. the church bells were ringing, as usual, and there was nothing to show that any trouble was impending; but when he arrived within two or three miles of the town, he overtook little groups of peasants walking in that direction. some of them, he saw, carried pitchforks. the rest had stout cudgels.

saint florent stood on the loire and, in an open space in the centre of the town, the authorities were gathered. behind them was a force of gendarmes, and in the middle of their line stood a cannon.

leigh had, as jean had told him, left his horse outside the town; and now took up his place, with a number of townspeople, on one side of the square. as the peasants arrived, they clustered together at the end of the street, waiting for the hour to strike at which the drawing was to begin. a few minutes before the clock struck, some of the gendarmes left the group in the centre of the square, and advanced to the peasants. they were headed by an officer who, as he came up, exclaimed:

"what do you mean by coming here with pitchforks? lay them down, at once!"

there was a low murmur among the peasants.

"follow me!" he said to his men and, walking up to one of the men carrying a pitchfork, he said:

"i arrest you, in the name of the republic."

in an instant a young man standing next to the one he had seized sprang forward, and struck the officer to the ground with his cudgel.

'follow me!' he shouted. 'make for the gun!'

"follow me!" he shouted. "make for the gun!"

with a cheer the peasants rushed forward, overthrowing the gendarmes as they went. the municipal authorities, after hesitating for a moment, took to their heels in the most undignified manner. the gun had not been loaded. the gendarmes round it, seeing that they were greatly outnumbered, followed their example; and the peasants, with exultant shouts, seized the cannon and then, scattering, chased the gendarmes out of the town.

never was a more speedy and bloodless victory. headed by their leader, whose name was rene foret, the peasants went to the municipality, broke open the doors, took possession of the arms stored there, collected all the papers they could find, and made a great bonfire with them in the centre of the square. then without harming anyone, or doing the slightest mischief, they left the town and scattered to their homes in the bocage.

leigh waited until all was over, returned to the cabaret where he had left his horse, and rode on. passing through the little town of pin a powerful-looking man, some thirty-five years old, with a quiet manner, broad forehead, and intelligent face, stepped up to him.

"pardon, monsieur," he said; "but you have come from saint florent?"

"yes," he replied.

"has aught happened there?"

"yes, the peasants attacked the gendarmes, who fled, leaving their cannon behind them. the peasants took what arms there were in the municipality, and made a bonfire of the papers. they then, without doing any damage, dispersed to their homes."

"they have done well," the man said. "they have made a beginning. my name, monsieur, is cathelineau; my business, so far, has been that of a hawker. i am well known in this part of the country. maybe, sir, you will hear my name again, for henceforth i am an insurgent. we have borne this tyranny of the butchers in paris too long, and the time has come when we must either free ourselves of it, or die. you belong to another class, but methinks that when you see that we are in earnest, you will join."

"i doubt not that we shall," leigh said. "i am but a lad yet; but i hope that, when the time comes, i shall do my part."

the man lifted his hat and moved off, and leigh rode forward again. he was struck with the earnest manner of the man. he had spoken calmly and without excitement, expressed himself well, and had the air of a man who, having determined upon a thing, would carry it through.

"i expect i shall hear of him again," he said to himself. "a man like that, travelling round the country, no doubt has a deal of influence. he is just the sort of man the peasants would follow; indeed, as it seems to me, that anyone might follow."

it was late in the afternoon when he arrived home, and told his sister what he had witnessed.

"i am not surprised, leigh," she said. "if i were a man i would take up arms, too. there must be an end to what is going on. thousands have been murdered in paris, men and women; and at least as many more in the other great towns. if this goes on, not only the nobles and gentry, but the middle class of france will all disappear; and these bloodstained monsters will, i suppose, set to to kill each other. i feel half french now, leigh, and it is almost too awful to think of.

"it seems to me that the only hope is that the peasants, not only of the bocage, but of all poitou, anjou, and brittany, may rise, be joined by those of other parts, and march upon the towns; destroy them altogether, and kill all who have been concerned in these doings."

"that would be pretty sweeping, patsey," leigh laughed. "but you know i hate them as much as you do and, though i don't feel a bit french, i would certainly do all that i could against them, just as one would kill wild beasts who go about tearing people to pieces. it is no odds to me whether the men, women, and children they kill are french, or english. one wants to put a stop to their killing."

"i wish, now, that i had not brought you out with me, leigh."

"in the first place, patsey, i deny altogether that you did bring me out--jean brought me out; and in the next place, i don't see why you should be sorry. i would not miss all this excitement, for anything. besides, i have learned to talk french well, and something of the business of a wine merchant. i can't be taken in by having common spirit, a year or two old, passed off on me as the finest from charente; or a common claret for a choice brand. all that is useful, even if i do not become a wine merchant. at any rate, it is more useful than stopping at netherstock, where i should have learned nothing except a little more latin and greek."

"yes, but you may be killed, leigh."

"well, i suppose if i had stayed at home, and got a commission in the army or a midshipman's berth in the navy, i might have been killed and, if i had my choice, i would much rather be killed in fighting against people who murder women and children, who have committed no crime whatever, than in fighting soldiers or sailors of another nation, who may be just as honest fellows as we are.''

"i cannot argue with you, leigh; but if anything happens to you i shall blame myself, all my life."

"that would be foolish," leigh said. "it is funny what foolish ideas women have. you could not have foreseen what was coming, when you came over here; and you thought that it would be a good thing for me to accompany you, for a time. you did what you thought was best, and which i think was best. well, if it doesn't turn out just what we expected, you cannot blame yourself for that. why, if you were to ask me to come for a walk, and a tree fell on me as we were going along and killed me, you would hardly blame yourself because you asked me to come; and this is just the same.

"at any rate, if i do get killed, which i don't mean to be if i can help it, there is no one else who will take it very much to heart, except yourself. there are plenty of them at home and, now that i have been away nearly two years, they must almost have forgotten my existence."

"i consider you a very foolish boy," patsey said, gravely. "you talk a great deal too much nonsense."

"very well, patsey; abuse is not argument, and almost every word that you have said applies equally well to your folly, in leaving a comfortable home in a quiet country to come to such a dangerous place as this.

"now, i hope that supper is ready, for i am as hungry as a hunter."