Eleanora H. Stooke

“ How often have I heard you say that when you grow up you mean to be a soldier? Well, a soldier must not be a weakling, and a soldier must learn to do his duty! It is your duty now to be a brave boy, and not to make things harder for father and me than they are already. We would rather keep you with us; but it is our plain duty to send you to England, and it is your plain duty to go willingly. You will find a happy home awaiting you, and God will be with you, my darling, always," and Mrs. Gidley mingled her tears with her little son's, whilst he sobbed bitterly. ”

“ The donkey paced solemnly around the field to Ruth's intense enjoyment. Suddenly he paused, seemed to think matters over, and then began to kick. Ruth uttered a shrill scream as she was pitched into a bramble-bush in the hedgerow; and Dick rushed towards her with a wildly beating heart, and a face from which all the colour had fled.
"Oh, Ruth, are you hurt?" he cried, as he assisted her to get up, and disentangled her skirts from the brambles. He gazed with dismay at a scratch on her cheek, and another on her nose, and tenderly wiped away the blood with his own handkerchief. ”

“ I hate a liar; and one who equivocates is a liar as much as one who tells a deliberate falsehood. If you speak the truth we shall get on."
"I always speak the truth," Dick said, growing red, for his grandfather was regarding him with great severity. "I am glad now I did come," he continued; "I had no idea you lived in such a fine house, grandfather! What a large room this is—quite the biggest I was ever in! It's rather too big for one person, isn't it?"
"Would you like to go all over the house?" Sir Richard asked, ignoring the other's question. ”

“ Dick said softly, as he stood looking up into the martyr's face. "Uncle Theophilus says he was a soldier of Christ. He fought the good fight of faith; and a man must be very brave to do that!"
The mellow August sunshine fell upon the pale, calm countenance of the young monk, and upon the uplifted face of the boy; once again Sir Richard was struck by the likeness between the two.
"Dick," he said suddenly, "come here!"
Dick let the curtain fall before the picture, and returned to his grandfather, regarding him with questioning brown eyes.
"I'm getting an old man, Dick," Sir Richard said gravely. ”

“ Now, I'm sure you'll try to forget what Lionel said, and come to the Manor House as usual?"
"No," said Dick stubbornly, "because I should always be thinking of how you hate mother!"
"Nonsense, my boy, I don't hate your mother now!" The words were out almost before Sir Richard was aware he had said them, so eager was he that Dick's frequent visits should not cease. "I think she must be a good woman if her son loves her so well," he continued, speaking gruffly to hide deep feeling, "and she has taught you to be honest and truth-loving—a gentleman at heart!" ”

“ At length Dick, for the first time, glanced behind him, and saw that he had wandered much further than he had intended. Holton beach, with Miss Warren seated on her camp-stool, the fishing-boats drawn up out of reach of the incoming tide, and the nets spread to dry in the sun, were out of sight; only a strip of rock-strewn sand beneath overhanging cliffs was to be seen. Suddenly remembering that he had disobeyed his aunt, and not kept his word, Dick hastily retraced his footsteps. ”

“ I'm never coming here again—I'll stay at home with Aunt Mary Ann and Uncle Theophilus—they love her—and I wish I'd never seen you, or the Manor House, or Lionel!"
"Stop, stop!" interposed Sir Richard hastily. He saw the child was trembling with passion, and deep in his heart he sympathised with him, and admired him for his plain speaking. "Don't be hasty, Dick! There are many things little boys can't understand about their elders!"
"Why do you hate her?" Dick enquired suddenly, his accusing eyes still fixed on his grandfather's face. "There's no one like mother, no one! ”

“ With the exception of the faithful ayah who had nursed him with the devotion of her class, his mother had been his chief companion during the eight short years of his life; he had never had a thought which he had hidden from her; he had told her all his childish hopes, and she had shared all his pleasures and joys; they had played like two children together, and all the while he had obeyed her slightest wish.
"Dick, always obey your mother!" Captain Gidley had been in the habit of telling his son, and Dick had complied with the willingness of perfect confidence and love. ”

“ He lay awake thinking of the great tiger his father had shot with such faultless aim. No wonder Nanukchund was so devoted to the Captain Sahib who had saved his life! No wonder every one spoke of his father as a brave and gallant soldier! Captain Gidley was a pattern for all that was good and true in his little son's partial eyes; the boy meant to be like him in the years to come, if God would allow him to grow into a strong man fitted to be a soldier; but until then, he reflected, he must be content to learn to be good and obedient, because to obey was a soldier's first duty in life ”

“ One trouble over, Dick hastened on, and had nearly turned the corner of the cliff which would bring him within sight of Holton beach, when he slipped on a piece of sea-weed and fell into a pool of water on his face and hands. He emerged sputtering and dripping, whilst Nero barked as though he thought it the best joke in the world.
Dick was in despair. What would Aunt Mary Ann say when she saw his deplorable condition? She would have every right to be very angry. Whilst he was thinking thus Miss Warren herself came upon the scene, having missed him, and become uneasy as to his safety. ”

“ Mrs. Compton and her children made a lengthened stay at the Manor House; and the unhappy breach in the family which Captain Gidley's marriage had made was quite healed. It was impossible to live under the same roof long with Dick's mother, and not like her. Sir Richard had prepared himself to tolerate her presence; but he had not known her many days before he found himself seeking her society; and understanding the love with which her husband and little son regarded her. He began to listen with pleasure to her light footsteps moving about the house; to smile at the sound of her merry laugh ”

“ Dick objected, "and father says a liar is generally a coward. I don't think you look a coward, somehow!"
Lionel took the latter part of his cousin's sentence as a compliment. There was an appearance of gratification on his face as he replied,—
"I'm not a coward; but what's a fellow to do to get himself out of a scrape? I wouldn't tell a lie to injure anyone; I wouldn't be so mean as that!"
"Of course not!" exclaimed Ruth, who always stood by her brother. "You don't know how nasty grandfather is when he's angry, Dick, or you wouldn't think it wrong to tell him a little fib." ”

“ The drawing-room was not nearly such a cheerful apartment as the sitting-room, although it looked out into the pretty, old-fashioned garden. The furniture was heavy, and all the chairs were draped with brown Holland coverings; a piano occupied one corner of the room, but it was seldom touched, now-a-days, except, as Dick afterwards found out, on Sundays, when his aunt was sometimes tempted to play a chant or a hymn-tune.
Miss Warren arranged the cushions on the sofa, and seemed satisfied with the effect; then, seeing how tired Dick was looking, she suggested that he should go to bed ”

“ I see it now."
"What do you see?" asked Sir Richard curiously.
"Why, that you're like father! Your eyes are like his, only different in the way they look; and you speak like him, too—only not quite the same!"
"That's not a very lucid explanation," Sir Richard said, with an involuntary smile; "but it would be strange if there was no likeness between me and my son," he added, a pleased look creeping over his stern face.
"Ah, now you're more like him!" Dick cried, his pale countenance lighting up with pleasure. "I'm so glad you are! ”

“ They were then at the top of a hill overlooking the village on one side, and the blue waters of the English Channel; whilst on the other, fully half a mile distant, the chimneys of the Manor House might be seen in the wooded valley beneath.
"Do you see those broad meadows and green fallows?" Dr. Warren said; "and those magnificent woods? Look all around you, Dick; as far as eye can see the land belongs to your grandfather; in time it will be your father's; and if you live, it will one day be yours. ”

“ Lionel remarked seriously. "I would give anything to know! What do you say, Dick, shall we enter into a compact to try and find the secret passage? and if we succeed we shall have every right to share the treasures. Do you agree?"
"Oh, yes!" Dick exclaimed readily, his pale face glowing with excitement. "Oh, what fun! When shall we begin to search?"
"I'll help!" Ruth interposed eagerly.
"You'll do no such thing," her brother told her. "You're a girl, and you can't do anything to help us; you would only be in our way!" ”

“ He took his hat and went out of the front door, raging against Susan Morecombe in his heart for having balked his plans; his sense of gratitude to her was lost in the thought that, but for her, he would have had the ammunition he wanted.
Through the gardens he went into the grounds beyond; but instead of following the carriage drive to across the park to the sloping woods which spread to the hill above the village of Holton. It was cool and pleasant beneath the shade of the trees and Lionel was hot with anger against Susan. ”

“ Warren went downstairs, and repeated the foregoing conversation to his sister.
"I cannot think how Sir Richard could have been so unwise as to speak thus of his son," he said vexedly, in conclusion; "but it is like him not to consider another's feelings. I could not tell Dick that his grandfather considered his mother beneath his father in position. Really, I cannot understand how the old man can be so bitter and unforgiving!"
"He would not be if he really knew Margaret," Miss Warren returned, her face flushing with indignation. ”

“ Dick asked, as he and Lionel sat down on one of the benches in the porch, and Granfer Cole reseated himself on the other.
"Surely!" the old man responded, smiling. "You are Captain Gidley's son. Ah, young gentlemen, my ears have to do double duty now my sight's so bad! I can always recognise a voice I've once heard! My hearing is sharper than it ever was! I've much to be thankful for!"
"We're here to consult you upon a very important matter," Lionel said, coming to the point at once. "My cousin and I have made up our minds to find that secret passage you know about." ”

“ Good afternoon, sir! I declare the young gentleman is looking better already. Did you see Sir Richard Gidley as you came down the street? No! Now, how could you have missed him, I wonder? He was here only five minutes ago!"
"We did not notice his carriage anywhere," Miss Warren remarked.
"He is walking," Miss Tidy replied. "I always say that in spite of his age, he is the finest man in the district. Ah!" bending across the counter and fixing her keen eyes on Dick, "as I told the doctor the other day, your little nephew's a Gidley, every inch of him." ”

“ The following day the little boy accompanied his aunt to the Manor House, where every one was so pleased to see Miss Warren, and made so much of her, that her bright face simply beamed with radiant smiles. She was shown the picture-gallery, and the little room which the martyr's picture had hidden so many years, and peeped down the steep stone steps built in the thickness of the wall. ”

“ Ruth's a grand lady going to a party, and I'm her coachman! Lionel's a highwayman—he's stopped our carriage, and demanded all Ruth's money and jewels! He's going to lock her up in a dungeon, and I'm trying to shoot him with this gun! Oh, Aunt Arabella! Oh, grandfather! You can't think what a jolly game it is, and we've made it up ourselves!"
"I'm afraid our coming has put a stop to it," Sir Richard remarked, his eyes resting kindly on Dick's countenance, which was flushed rosy red. ”

“ Ruth asked curiously, mindful of the conversation she had heard at the breakfast-table that morning.
"Because she couldn't leave father," Dick replied promptly; "and—and she said it was my duty to come to England alone; so, of course, I did not make more fuss than I could help. I didn't want father to think me a coward. Father's a brave soldier, you know; and mother says I must always remember I'm a soldier's son, and do my duty."
"We don't remember our father," Ruth said regretfully; "he died when Lionel and I were very young." ”

“ Sir Richard said to Dick after he had exchanged a few words with the doctor.
"Oh, thank you!" the little boy replied, thinking how much pleasanter his grandfather seemed to-day than on the occasion of his first visit to the Manor House. "I have enjoyed myself so much! May I come again soon?"
"Yes," the old man nodded, looking gratified. He turned to Dr. Warren, and added: "The child appears brighter and stronger already!"
"Ah, the scaffolding is sound enough," the doctor returned quaintly; "there's a good frame-work to build upon; we'll soon put a little flesh on his bones!" ”

“ Dick exclaimed as the doctor nodded to one person, then to another.
"You see, Dick, I have lived most of my life in this place, and I know every man, woman, and child for miles around. That's Cripps, the grocer, standing there in the doorway of his shop. That's the post-office, that little house with the porch all covered with honeysuckle; and there's Miss Tidy, the post-mistress, peeping out over the wire blind."
"Miss Tidy," Dick echoed, laughing. "What a funny name, and what a funny face!" ”

“ He had no means of guessing why his parents had not spoken to him of Sir Richard Gidley until they had been about to send him to England. He knew they must have had a reason for not having done so, and he felt decidedly puzzled.
"I don't know much about him," he proceeded, "except that he is my grandfather. Mother says he is a lonely old man, and that I must not be afraid of him. Why should I be afraid of him?" he asked, looking questioningly from one face to the other.
"There is no reason, Dick," Dr. Warren answered. "Sir Richard is often gruff in his manner, and speaks out sharply. ”

“ God grant his life may be spared for his mother's sake!"
"Here comes Uncle Theophilus!" Dick cried, as he heard the doctor's slow footsteps descending the stairs. He ran to the door, and went into the hall to meet him, followed by his grandfather.
"How is he?" asked Sir Richard somewhat nervously, as he shook hands with Dr. Warren. "Not seriously injured, I trust?"
"Seriously, but not necessarily fatally," was the grave reply. "We must hope for the best. He has been badly shot in the thigh, and is very weak from loss of blood; he will be ill for many weeks even if all goes well." ”

“ There was a clamour of voices; eager questions; tears, sobs; and in the midst of the intense excitement Dick and his aunt somehow understood that the brave men who had gone out to the wreck had returned in safety, bringing the captain and the mate of the schooner with them.
An hour later the beach was deserted. The shipwrecked crew was safely housed at the village inn; and the doctor, with his sister and Dick, were discussing the events of the evening over the supper-table. ”