ndisturbed; but
the woman only begged that she might not be asked to say where she
lived nor to give any account of herself. She was quite alone with her
son, she said, and lived an honest harmless life. As to Tommy Fry, she
could not understand how any words of hers could have taken his speech
from him; it was nonsense, and the women were fools. Finally, she said
that if Lady Eleanor really wished to be kind she would let them go and
not try to find them again; but she faithfully promised that if
anything went wrong, she would come to her first for help.

So Lady Eleanor seeing that she was in earnest promised to do as she
had said; and the woman thanked her with real gratitude. Then Dick and
Elsie came in again to say good-bye, and the woman, taking her son by
the arm, led him away. He moved so feebly that Lady Eleanor offered
her a pony for him to ride, but his mother refused, though with many
thanks; so the two passed away slowly across the park, and disappeared.

"Well, there is Tommy Fry cured at any rate," said Colonel Fitzdenys.
"And I believe that the woman spoke the truth, when she said that she
did not know what she had done to him. And now I must see to this man
who is locked up in the stable."

But even while he spoke the Corporal came to say that Mrs. Mugford was
come, and begged to be allowed to see her Ladyship. So in the poor
thing came, crying her eyes out, to confess that her son in the stable
was the true deserter, and to beg her Ladyship to have mercy and not to
yield him up, giving such an account of the punishment that awaited him
as nearly turned Lady Eleanor sick; for those were rough days in the
army.

Colonel George meanwhile stood by without uttering a word; and when
Mrs. Mugford had crawled from the room, utterly broken down, and Lady
Eleanor turned to him with tears in her eyes, too much moved to speak,
he only shook his head.

"The fellow must be given up and sent back to his corps," he said. "He
has already got an innocent man into trouble, and even if he had not I
am bound in duty to send him back."

"Could you not do something to intercede for him and save him from this
horrible punishment?" asked Lady Eleanor. "I should be so thankful if
you would."

Colonel George hesitated. "I have no wish to harm the poor wretch," he
said, "but there are other men in the same case, very likely less
guilty, who have no one to intercede for them. It is a question of
discipline."