echo of that grand groan.

"I think I did that pretty well, my Captain," cried Charron, ascending
from the vault with dripping boots; "I deserve a glass of Cognac, if
they have left me any. Happy is Stoobar that he was contented, without
breaking his neck at the inspector's step."

"He has satisfied his conscience," Carne answered, grimly; "yet it
cannot be blameless, to make him run so fast. I am glad we have been
saved from killing them. It would have been hard to know what to do
next. But he will never trouble us here again."

CHAPTER XLV

FATHER, AND CHILD

"Tell Miss Faith, when she comes in, that I shall be glad to see her,"
said Admiral Darling to his trusty butler, one hot afternoon in August.
He had just come home from a long rough ride, to spend at least one day
in his own house, and after overhauling his correspondence, went into
the dining-room, as the coolest in the house, to refresh himself a
little with a glass of light wine before going up to dress for dinner.
There he sat in an arm-chair, and looked at his hands, which were
browned by the sun, and trembling from a long period of heavy work and
light sleep. He was getting too old to endure it with impunity, yet
angry with himself for showing it. But he was not thinking of himself
alone.

"I hope she will be sensible"--he was talking to himself, as elderly
people are apt to do, especially after being left to themselves; "I hope
she will see the folly of it--of living all her life as the bride of
a ghost; and herself such a beautiful, cheerful darling! Loving,
warm-hearted, sweet-tempered, adoring children, and adored by them;
obedient, gentle--I can't think of anything good that she hasn't got,
except common-sense. And even for that, I like her all the more; because
it is so different from all the other girls. They have got too much--one
lover out of sight, even for a month or two, gone fighting for his
Country, what do they do but take up with another, as I very greatly
fear our Dolly would? But Faith--Why, my darling, how well you look!"

"How I wish that I could say the same of you, dear father!" said the
lovely young woman, while kissing him, and smoothing with her soft hand
his wrinkled forehead; "you never used to have these little tucks and
gathers here. I would rather almost that the French should come and
devour us all, than see my father, whenever we do see him, once in a
month, say, gauffred like this--as their laundresses do it-