worth while to make cartridges merely to fire away at these harmless and
useless sea pyots and things of that sort."

"Oh, but my papa could easily get us a yacht," she said promptly; "he
would be delighted--I know he would be delighted. And I have been told
you can get a small yacht for about L40 a month, crew and everything
included, and what is that? Indeed, I think it is quite necessary you
should have a yacht."

"Forty pounds," said he. "I think we could manage that. But then we
should deduct something from the wages of the crew on the strength of
our taking our own cook with us. Do you remember that cook? She had a
wonderful trick of making apricot jam puddings; how the dickens she
managed to get so much jam crammed in I never could make out. She was
just about as good at that as at making cartridges. Did you ever hear of
that cook?"

By this time they had walked gently back to the carriage, and now Mrs.
Warrener and her daughter made their appearance. The elder woman noticed
something strange about Violet's expression, but she did not speak of
it, for surely the girl was happy enough? She was, indeed, quite merry.
She told Mrs. Warrener she was ready to go with them to the Highlands
whenever they chose. She proposed that this time they should go up the
Caledonian canal, and go down by Loch Maree, and then go out and visit
the western isles. She said the sooner they went the better; they would
get all the beautiful summer of the north; it was only the autumn
tourists who complained of the rain of the Highlands.

"But we had little rain last autumn," said Mrs. Warrener.

"Oh, very little indeed," said Violet, quite brightly; "we had charming
weather all through. I never enjoyed myself anywhere so much. I think
the sooner your brother gets up to the Highlands, the better it will do
him a world of good."

CHAPTER XLVII.

DU SCHMERZENSREICHE!

So the long, silent, sunlit days passed, and it seemed to the three
patient watchers that the object of their care was slowly recovering
health and strength. But if they were all willing and eager to wait on
him, it was Violet who was his constant companion and friend, his
devoted attendant, his humble scholar. Sometimes when Mrs. Warrener's
heart grew sore within her to think of the wrong that had been wrought
in the past, the tender little woman tried to solace herself somewhat by
regarding these two as they now sat together--he the whimsical,
affectionate