Of
course, I said that it was the very best thing in the world for
you; and would not be any loss of time because, if you could speak
Spanish well, you would learn the business much more quickly when
you went to Cadiz; and need not be so long abroad, then."

"I shall be awfully sorry to go away from you, Mr. Medlin, and from
Mrs. Medlin and the others. It has been so jolly with you, and you
have all been so kind."

"Yes, it has been very comfortable all round, Bob, and we shall all
be sorry that you are going; but I did not expect we should have
you long with us. I felt sure your uncle would see he had made a
mistake, in taking you into the place so young; and when he finds
out he has made a mistake, he says so. Some people won't; but I
have known him own up he has been wrong, after blowing up one of
the boys in the cellar for something he hadn't done. Now, there is
not one employer in a hundred who would do that.

"Yes, I felt sure that he would change his mind about you, and
either send you back to school again or make some other
arrangement; so I wasn't a bit surprised when he spoke to me, last
week. Still, we shall all be sorry, Bob."

Another fortnight, passed without Bob hearing more; except that he
was taken by Mr. Medlin to various shops, and a large outfit was
ordered.

"You will bear in mind two things, Mr. Medlin," his employer had
said. "In the first place, that my nephew will grow, in the next
two years. Therefore order some of his things to fit him, now, and
some to be made larger and in more manly fashion. Give instructions
that, when these are finished, they are to be put in tin cases and
soldered down, so as to be kept distinct from the others.

"In the second place, you will bear in mind that clothes which
would be perfectly right and suitable for him, here, will not be at
all suitable for him, there. He will be living with an officer, and
associating entirely with military men; and there must therefore be
a certain cut and fashion about his things. Of course, I don't want
him to look like a young fop; but you understand what I want. There
will be no boys out there, it is therefore better that he should
look a little older than he is. Besides, I think that boys--and
men, too--to some extent live up to their clothes.

"I do not think that I have anything else to say, Mr. Medlin;
except that, as he will not be able to replace any clothes he may
destroy out there, and as he is sure to be climbin