turned from a voyage, Ben called upon Mrs. Holland. He
himself had given up every vestige of hope, when it was known that the
name of her husband was not among the list of those whom Tippoo had
been forced to release. Margaret Holland, however, still clung to
hope. Her face was paler, and there was a set, pathetic expression in
it; so, when she spoke of her husband as being still alive, Ben would
sooner have cut out his tongue than allow the slightest word,
indicative of his own feeling of certainty as to the captain's fate,
to escape him; and he always made a pretence of entering warmly into
her plans.

The training, as she considered it, of her son went on steadily. She
always conversed with him in her father's language, and he was able to
speak it as well as English. She was ever impressing upon him that he
must be strong and active. When he was twelve, she engaged an old
soldier, who had set up a sort of academy, to instruct him in the use
of the sword; and in such exercises as were calculated to strengthen
his muscles, and to give him strength and agility.

Unlike most mothers, she had no word of reproach when he returned home
from school with a puffed face, or cut lips; the signs of battle.

"I do not want you to be quarrelsome," she often said to him, "but I
have heard your father say that a man who can use his fists well is
sure to be cool and quick, in any emergency. You know what is before
you, and these qualities are of far more importance, in your case,
than any book learning. Therefore, Dick, I say, never quarrel on your
own account, but whenever you see a boy bullying a smaller one, take
the opportunity of giving him a lesson while learning one yourself. In
the days of old, you know, the first duty of a true knight was to
succour the oppressed, and I want you to be a true knight. You will
get thrashed sometimes, no doubt, but don't mind that. Perhaps, next
time, you will turn the tables."

Dick acted upon this advice and, by the time he was fifteen, had
established a reputation among, not only the boys of his own school,
but of the district. In addition to his strength and quickness, he had
a fund of dogged endurance, and imperturbable good temper, that did
not fail him; even on the rare occasions when, in combats with boys
much older than himself, he was forced to admit himself defeated.

The fact that he fought, not because he was angry, but as if it were a
matter of business, gave him a great advan