h respected
in St. Ia, but whom Admiral Tresize regarded as a crank. For Dr.
Nancarrow was a Quaker, and although he did not parade his faith, it
was well known that he held fast by those principles for which the
Society of Friends is known. For one thing, he hated war. To him it
was utterly opposed to the religion which England was supposed to
believe, and he maintained that it seemed to him an impossibility for
Christianity and war to be reconciled.

Admiral Tresize and he had had many arguments about this, and when the
Boer War broke out, the condemnation of the doctor was so strong that
it seemed almost inevitable that he and the Admiral should quarrel.
Indeed, a coolness did spring up between them, and but for the fact
that Mrs. Nancarrow had been a Miss Trelawney, and a direct descendant
of the most important family in the county, it is probable that the
coolness would have ended in an estrangement.

Bob, although he inherited his mother's looks, was greatly influenced
by his father's opinions. Dr. Nancarrow died when he was quite a boy,
yet his father's memory became one of the most potent influences in his
life.

His mother sent him to Clifton College, and although to please her he
joined the Officers' Training Corps, he held by his father's opinion
that war and Christianity were a direct contradiction to each other.

Bob was one of those boys who throw their hearts into everything they
take in hand, and although soldiering as a profession was repugnant to
him, he made such progress in the O.T.C. that he quite distinguished
himself. Indeed, he did so well, that Captain Pringle, with whom he
became very friendly, urged him to become a soldier.

"You would do well," urged the Captain; "you have the makings of a
first-class soldier, and if a war broke out, you'd be a valuable man."

"Not a bit in my line, I assure you," was Bob's reply. "I went in for
this thing only to please my mater, and, to tell the truth, I regard it
as little more than waste of time."

"It wouldn't be waste of time if we went to war," said Captain Pringle.

"War! who are we going to war with?"

"We may be on the brink of it now."

"Excuse me, but I don't believe in all these war scares. We are not a
military nation, and there's not a shadow of reason for believing that
while our Statesmen have level heads we shall be so mad as to embroil
ourselves."

"It may be forced upon us. Think of the Boer War."

Bob laughed. His