serving that the English officers
were good enough to be pleased with her singing, went to the piano and
sang several songs, with which Higson expressed himself highly
delighted. Every moment his admiration of the young lady evidently
increased. She was not, it must be acknowledged, possessed of what
could be called classical beauty; she was fair, certainly, with blue
eyes, but they were rather small; while her figure was too short and
round to be graceful, and her nose differed considerably from that of
the Venus de Medicis; but then she had smiling lips, and a good-natured
expression altogether.

Her younger sister, Feodorowna, who was scarcely fifteen, was certainly
very much prettier; indeed, Tom was inclined to pronounce her perfectly
beautiful, and he was still more delighted with her when she sang,
though her voice was not equal to that of her sister.

Supper being announced, they went into the dining-room without waiting
for the return of Herr Groben. His two pupils, boys younger than
Feodorowna, however, made their appearance. They reported that they had
gone down to the boats, and had seen Herr Groben shaking hands with the
officer in command, having apparently found an old friend.

"That is not surprising," observed Higson; "our master, Jos Green, finds
old friends everywhere, and I believe that if he were to go to the North
Pole he would fall in with an acquaintance."

Higson and Tom had been now nearly two hours at the house, and it was
high time that they should be off; but neither of them felt any
inclination to quit such agreeable society. Still, Higson was too good
an officer to forget his duty, and he at length told Tom that it was
time to go; and they were on the point of wishing their fair hostesses
good-bye, Higson promising with perfect sincerity that, if able, when
the war was over, he would come back; and Tom, with equal honesty,
saying much the same thing, when they saw Herr Groben hurrying across
the lawn towards the drawing-room window, and panting for breath.

"I am sorry to say, gentlemen, that I bring you unsatisfactory
intelligence," exclaimed Herr Groben. "As I was sitting on the point,
enjoying my meerschaum with my old friend Green, I caught sight of a
number of foot-soldiers and a troop of Cossacks, who had come over the
hills farther down the river, and who, it was very evident from their
gestures, had caught sight of the boats hauled up on the bank, and the
English seamen