do not think we are in any great danger. And how is
your brother?'

'Oh, very well; I mean very ill. Worse than ever. I wish you could
take him with you for a cruise or two.'

'As they used to take a cask of raw Madeira,' said he, laughing
heartily, 'to fine down? Well, you're right about one thing; there's
some good stuff in the lad. He might fine down to something good. But
he is not in proper guidance.'

'He is in no guidance at all,' sighed his mother.

'Is he going abroad with you?'

'Not he,' said Miss Beresford. 'He wouldn't be bothered with us girls.
He will see us as far as Newhaven, perhaps, and make brutal jokes all
the way about the Channel.'

'You are going soon, then?' said he. Somehow there was a kind of
constraint about this young lieutenant's manner. He seemed to be
thinking of something or some one else. His remarks and questions were
of the most conventional sort.

'On the 1st of September I think we shall be ready to start.'

'And are you going far?' he said, in the same preoccupied way.

'To Lucerne, first, I imagine; and then over the Splugen, when it is
cool enough to go into Italy.'

'Oh, indeed!' said he. And then he added, after a pause, 'Oh, indeed!'

Then he rose.

'I see my man has got back,' he said. 'I am sorry, Lady Beresford, I
cannot ask you to bring your daughters to look over the ship; we must
be off directly. Some other time, perhaps. It would give me very
great pleasure, indeed. I hope, Miss Beresford, you will have a
pleasant journey. I have been thinking of going abroad myself this
autumn if I can get sufficient leave. Will you remember me to your
brother Tom?'

He bade them good-bye, and left. They were silent until they saw him
cross over the King's Road. Then the business of criticism began.

'He doesn't talk like a sailor at all,' said the Baby, with a pout.
'He talks just like anybody.'

'At all events he is very good-looking,' said Beauty, warmly. 'He has
the loveliest eyes I ever saw in a man. And his hands--did you notice
his gloves?'

'A sailor shouldn't wear gloves,' said the Baby, who had not seen
Lieutenant King before, but had heard of him, and was disappointed that
he did not correspond to the nautical heroes she had read of.

'I think gold lace is far better on blue than on scarlet,' said Beauty.
'I think blue and gold looks better than anything in a ball-room.'

'He didn't tell us a single wonderful story,' said the disap