for I _must go_. For
these three years we and the rest of the country have been in fear of the
enemy; trade has been hindered; poor folk made hungry; and many rich folk
made poor. There must be a deliverance, and it must be done by sea. I
have seen Captain Hardy, and I shall serve under him if so be I can.'

'Captain Hardy?'

'Yes. I have been to his house at Pos'ham, where he's staying with his
sisters; walked there and back, and I wouldn't have missed it for fifty
guineas. I hardly thought he would see me; but he did see me. And he
hasn't forgot you.'

Bob then opened his tale in order, relating graphically the conversation
to which he had been a party, and they listened with breathless
attention.

'Well, if you must go, you must,' said the miller with emotion; 'but I
think it somewhat hard that, of my two sons, neither one of 'em can be
got to stay and help me in my business as I get old.'

'Don't trouble and vex about it,' said Mrs. Loveday soothingly. 'They
are both instruments in the hands of Providence, chosen to chastise that
Corsican ogre, and do what they can for the country in these trying
years.'

'That's just the shape of it, Mrs. Loveday,' said Bob.

'And he'll come back soon,' she continued, turning to Anne. 'And then
he'll tell us all he has seen, and the glory that he's won, and how he
has helped to sweep that scourge Buonaparty off the earth.'

'When be you going, Bob?' his father inquired.

'To-morrow, if I can. I shall call at the barracks and tell John as I go
by. When I get to Portsmouth--'

A burst of sobs in quick succession interrupted his words; they came from
Anne, who till that moment had been sitting as before with her hand in
that of Bob, and apparently quite calm. Mrs. Loveday jumped up, but
before she could say anything to soothe the agitated girl she had calmed
herself with the same singular suddenness that had marked her giving way.
'I don't mind Bob's going,' she said. 'I think he ought to go. Don't
suppose, Bob, that I want you to stay!'

After this she left the apartment, and went into the little side room
where she and her mother usually worked. In a few moments Bob followed
her. When he came back he was in a very sad and emotional mood. Anybody
could see that there had been a parting of profound anguish to both.

'She is not coming back to-night,' he said.

'You will see her to-morrow before you go?' said her mother.

'I may or I may not,' he replie