ct them!' Those were his last words,
madam. Next moment his sowl had fled. When I heard your name casually
mintioned I could not feel satisfied in me mind until I had come across
and ascertained if you were the lady in question."

Now, this narrative not only surprised the widow, which was not
unnatural, seeing that it was entirely an invention of the old
soldier's, but it appealed to her weakest point. The father of the
deceased Scully had been of plebeian origin, so that the discovery in
the family of a real major-general--albeit he was dead--was a famous
windfall, for the widow had social ambitions which hitherto she had
never been able to gratify. Hence she smiled sweetly at the veteran in
a way which stimulated him to further flights of mendacity.

"Sure he and I were like brothers," he said. "He was a man that any one
might well be proud to know. Commander-in-chief said to me once,
'Clutterbuck,' says he, 'I don't know what we'd do if we had a European
war. I've no one I can rely on,' says he. 'There's Scully,' says I.
'Right,' says he, 'Scully would be our man.' He was terribly cut up when
this occurred. 'Here's a blow to the British army!' he remarked, as he
looked down at him where he lay with a bullet through his head--he did,
madam, be Jove!"

"But, major, I understood you to say that he was cut in two?"

"So he was. Cut in two, and shot and mortally wounded in a dozen places
besides. Ah, if he could have foreseen that I should have met you he
would have died happy."

"It's strange he never let us know of his existence when he was alive,"
the widow remarked.

"Pride, madam, pride! 'Until I reach the top of the tree, Toby,' he used
to say, 'I shall niver reveal myself to me brother.'"

"Nephew," interpolated the widow.

"Quite so--' I shall niver reveal myself to me nephew.' He said those
very words to me only a few minutes before the fatal shell struck him."

"A shell, major? You mean a bullet."

"A shell, madam, a shell," said the major with decision.

"Dear me!" exclaimed Mrs. Scully, with a somewhat bewildered
expression. "How very sad it all is. We must thank you very much,
Major Bottletop--"

"Clutterbuck," said the Major.

"I beg pardon, Major Clutterbuck. It was very kind of you to call upon
us in this friendly way and to give us these details. Of course, when a
relative dies, even though you don't know much about him, still it is
interesting to have a clear account of