ong grass till the rowels were
choked with its blades. Presently he heard another person approaching,
and his brother's shape appeared between the stubbard tree and the hedge.

'O, is it you?' said the mate.

'Yes. I am--taking a little air.'

'She is getting round nicely again; and as I am not wanted indoors just
now, I am going into the village to call upon a friend or two I have not
been able to speak to as yet.'

John took his brother Bob's hand. Bob rather wondered why.

'All right, old boy,' he said. 'Going into the village? You'll be back
again, I suppose, before it gets very late?'

'O yes,' said Captain Bob cheerfully, and passed out of the garden.

John allowed his eyes to follow his brother till his shape could not be
seen, and then he turned and again walked up and down.

XVIII. THE NIGHT AFTER THE ARRIVAL

John continued his sad and heavy pace till walking seemed too old and
worn-out a way of showing sorrow so new, and he leant himself against the
fork of an apple-tree like a log. There the trumpet-major remained for a
considerable time, his face turned towards the house, whose ancient, many-
chimneyed outline rose against the darkened sky, and just shut out from
his view the camp above. But faint noises coming thence from horses
restless at the pickets, and from visitors taking their leave, recalled
its existence, and reminded him that, in consequence of Matilda's
arrival, he had obtained leave for the night--a fact which, owing to the
startling emotions that followed his entry, he had not yet mentioned to
his friends.

While abstractedly considering how he could best use that privilege under
the new circumstances which had arisen, he heard Farmer Derriman drive up
to the front door and hold a conversation with his father. The old man
had at last apparently brought the tin box of private papers that he
wished the miller to take charge of during Derriman's absence; and it
being a calm night, John could hear, though he little heeded, Uncle
Benjy's reiterated supplications to Loveday to keep it safe from fire and
thieves. Then Uncle Benjy left, and John's father went upstairs to
deposit the box in a place of security, the whole proceeding reaching
John's preoccupied comprehension merely as voices during sleep.

The next thing was the appearance of a light in the bedroom which had
been assigned to Matilda Johnson. This effectually aroused the trumpet-
major, and with a stealthine