r a course of severe exercise to prevent the chance
of such a thing occurring."

"You might take to shooting," Mrs. Troutbeck said doubtfully; "and I am
sure that at present there is not a gentleman round who would not be
glad to give you a day's shooting."

"I have done enough shooting, Aunt," Julian said gravely. "It was the
means of my getting into a bad scrape here. In Russia it was often part
of my duty to shoot dying horses, to say nothing of shooting men, and I
have no desire ever to take a gun in my hands again. I have looked up my
old friend Bill, and shall take to sailing again, but I will promise you
that I will keep clear of smugglers."

Two days later Frank announced his intention of going up to London for a
few days, as he thought he had better offer to be of any assistance he
could at the War Office. He was away for nearly three weeks, and on his
return mentioned that he had run down to Canterbury, and had seen some
of his old friends at the depot. A fortnight later he received a bulky
letter from town, and in the course of the day asked his aunt if she
felt equal to taking a journey with him.

"A journey, my dear!" she repeated in surprise. "Where do you want to go
to?"

"Well, Aunt, I want to go to London in the first place; we will travel
by post-chaise, so that everything will be comfortable; afterwards we
may go somewhere else. I can't tell you anything about it now; it is a
little secret. But I do very much want you and Julian to go with me."

"Then, of course we will, my dear," the old lady said. "I should very
much like to visit London again, and see the theatres and shows. What do
you say, Julian?"

"Of course I will go, Aunt, though I can't think what Frank has got in
his head. Still, I am very tired of Weymouth, and it will be a change. I
was saying to Dick Halliburne yesterday that unless I could hit on
something to do, I should have to ask them if they would let me go to
school again."

Six days later they drove up in a post-chaise to a fine mansion some
three miles from Canterbury. Julian's astonishment at Frank's mysterious
proceedings had been growing ever since they left Weymouth.

"Who on earth are we going to see here?" he asked, as they approached
the mansion.

"Restrain your impatience for a few minutes longer, Julian, then you
shall know all about it. This mansion, I may tell you, belongs to a
friend of mine. It is the centre of an estate of some 2,000 acres, and
its ren