turned white, and the brightness left
her eyes.

"I should hate it," she said; "there are no other words."

"And you think there is just an off chance that you may win this
wonderful Scholarship?"

"I mean to have the biggest try a girl ever had, and you know your
Kitty," replied the girl.

"Yes, I know my brave, brave Kitty, the girl who has clung to her
father through thick and thin, who has always tried to please him, who
has a spirit of her own."

"Which I inherit from you," said Kitty. "Oh, I have lots of faults; I
can be so cheeky when I like, and so naughty about rules, but somehow
nothing, nothing ever frightens me, except the thought of going to
Helen Dartmoor. You see, father, dear, it would be so hopeless. You
cannot take the hope out of anybody's life and expect the person to do
well, can you, father? Do speak, father--can you?"

"No, my child, I know that, but even if you have to go to her, Kitty,
remember that I am working very hard for you--that as soon as possible
I will make a home for you, and you shall come to me."

"How long will you be in India, father?"

"I do not know, my child. The appointment which I have just received
under Government I can, I believe, retain as long as I please. My idea
is, darling, to do very good service for our Government, and to induce
them to send me into a healthy place."

"But where are you going now?" said Kitty; "Is the place not healthy,
is your life to be endangered?"

"No, I am too seasoned for that," replied the Major, in a very cheerful
tone which, alas! he was far from feeling. "You need not be a scrap
anxious, my love," he added; "the place would not suit a young thing
like you, but a seasoned old subject like myself is safe enough. Never
you fear, Kitty mine."

"But go on, father; you have more to say, haven't you?"

"Yes, Kitty, I have more to say and the time is very brief. If you win
the Scholarship, well and good. You will be well educated, and my mind
will be relieved of an untold load of care. But, of course, darling,
there is a possibility of your failing, for the Scholarship is an open
one, and there are other girls in the school, perhaps as clever, as
determined, as full of zeal as you, my Kitty."

"I am afraid, father, dear, there are other girls much cleverer than
your Kitty, who know a vast lot more, and who are very full of zeal.
But," added the young girl, and now she clasped her hands and sprang to
her feet, "there i