lly, accepted it politely, and drank it with additional
appreciation.

"We want more, Brown," said one of the ladies, glancing back over her
shoulder as she poured out the last drop from her large jug; "and more
buns and bread, please."

"Here you are, Miss," cried Brown, who was warm by that time in spite of
the weather, as he bore his brimming and steaming pitcher to the
window--or hole in the wall--and replenished the jugs. "The buns are
all done, an' the bread won't hold out long, but I've sent for more; it
won't be long. I see we shall need several more brews," he added, as he
turned again towards the inexhaustible boiler.

"Shall I assist you?" said Miles, stepping into the shed and seizing a
loaf and a knife.

"Thank you. Go ahead," said Brown.

"Put another lump of butter near the fire," said the missionary to our
hero; "not too close. I melted the last lump altogether."

"A cup o' coffee for my Terence, an' wan for mesilf, my dear," exclaimed
a loud voice outside.

There was no mistaking the speaker. Some of the men who crowded round
the counter laughed, others partially choked, when the strapping Terence
said in a hoarse whisper, "Whist, mother, be civil; don't ye see that
it's ladies, no less, is sarvin' of us?"

"Please, ma'am, can I 'ave some coffee?" asked a modest soldier's wife,
who looked pale and weary after the long voyage, with three children to
look after.

A cup was promptly supplied, and three of the newly-arrived buns stopped
the mouths of her clamorous offspring.

"Can ye give me a cup o' tea?" demanded another soldier's wife, who was
neither so polite nor so young as the previous applicant.

It is probable that the ladies did not observe the nature of her demand,
else they would doubtless have explained that they had no tea, but a cup
of coffee was silently handed to her.

"Ah! this is _real_ home-tea, this is," she said, smacking her lips
after the first sip. "A mighty difference 'tween this an' what we've
bin used to in the ship."

"Yes, indeed," assented her companion. Whether it was tea she had been
accustomed to drink on board the troop-ship we cannot tell, but probably
she was correct as to the "mighty difference." It may be that the
beverages supplied in foreign lands had somewhat damaged the power of
discrimination as to matters of taste in these soldiers' wives. At all
events an incident which occurred about the same time justifies this
belief.

"Mr Miles,"