nd
faithful, waiting to make her happy. He forgot that once upon a time he
had been furious with Robin for his patience. Robin was a kind fellow, a
good fellow. He seemed to be always at the beck and call of his mother
and Nelly, always ready to escort them. Why, only yesterday Nelly had
said that there was no one so comfortable as Robin to go about with, and
then, in a fit of compunction, had flown to her father and hugged him
hard.

"Never mind, Nell, never mind," the General had said. "I never took you
about much, did I? We were great home-keepers, you and I. Never seemed
to want to gad about, did we? I ought to have taken you about more. It
was a dull life for a young girl--a dull life. I ought to be obliged to
your aunt for showing me the error of my ways, for making life
pleasanter for you."

He gulped over the end of the speech.

"It was a lovely life," cried Nelly wildly, and then burst into tears.

The General was terribly distressed. He had had no experience of Nelly
in tears. She had never wept or fainted or done any of the interesting
things young ladies were supposed to do in his time. She had been always
the light of the house, always happy and healthy and gay.

While he looked at the bell uncertainly, being half of a mind to summon
assistance, Nelly relieved him from his doubt by running away out of the
room, and when they met again he did not remind her of the scene. That
discretion of his went to her heart. It was so strange and pitiful for
him to be discreet, so unlike him.

After that he began to praise Robin Drummond, not too suddenly nor too
effusively at first, but by degrees, so as not to awaken Nelly's
suspicions. He amazed Robin Drummond by his cordiality in those days,
and the young fellow commented on it whimsically to Nelly herself.

"He has been telling me all my life that I am a poor creature," he said,
"and here he is, to all intents and purposes, eating his own words. Just
fancy his wading through that speech of mine on the estimates and
pretending to be interested in it, even praising it, Nell. Seeing that
the speech was all against our maintaining our big standing army, on a
motion to cut down the expenditure, it is bewildering. Is it a mild
joke, Nell dear?"

"You may call it a joke if you like," she said, her eyes filling with
tears. "I call it heart-breaking, heart-breaking. If he would only abuse
you as he used to do!"

"Dear Nell, what's up?" asked Robin, in great penite