d town in the uniform of a cadet, and
seemed to think himself better than any one else. These things count
with boys as much as they do with older persons.

"Climb in the waggin, Gabe an' Cephas, an' tell us about ever'thing an'
ever'body. The Yanks didn't take the town off, did they?"

The boys accepted the invitation without further pressing, for they were
both fond of Mr. Sanders, and proceeded to give their old friend all the
information he desired. Francis Bethune asked no questions, and Gabriel
was very glad of it. At bottom, Bethune was a very clever fellow, but
the boys are apt to make up their judgments from what is merely
superficial. Francis had a very handsome face, and he could have made
himself attractive to a youngster on the lookout for friends, but he had
chosen a different line of conduct, and as a result, Gabriel had several
scores against the young man. And so had Cephas; for, on one occasion,
the latter had gone to the Clopton Place for some wine for his mother,
who was something of an invalid, and, coming suddenly on Sarah Clopton,
found her in tears. Cephas never had a greater shock than the sight gave
him, for he had never connected this self-contained, gray-haired woman
with any of the tenderer emotions. In the child's mind, she was simply a
sort of superintendent of affairs on the Clopton Place, who, in the
early mornings, stood on the back porch of the big house, and, in a
voice loud enough to be heard a considerable distance, gave orders to
the domestics, and allotted to the field hands their tasks for the day.

Sarah Clopton must have seen how shocked the child was, for she dried
her eyes and tried to laugh, saying, "You never expected to see me
crying, did you, little boy?" Cephas had no answer for this, but when
she asked if he could guess why she was crying, the child remembered
what he had heard Nan and Gabriel say, and he gave an answer that was
both prompt and blunt. "I reckon Frank Bethune has been making a fool of
himself again," said he.

"But how did you know, child?" she asked, placing her soft white fingers
under his chin, and lifting his face toward the light. "You are a wise
lad for your years," she said, when he made no reply, "and I am sure you
are sensible enough to do me a favour. Please say nothing about what you
have seen. An old woman's tears amount to very little. And don't be too
hard on Frank. He has simply been playing some college prank, and they
are sending him