st
be a considerable time before matters are thoroughly settled. There
will be many civil posts open to those who, like yourself, are well
acquainted with the language of the country; and if you can obtain one
of these, you may well remain there until you come of age. You can then
obtain a few months' leave of absence and go to England.

"My second reason is that, although my hope that your father is still
alive has almost died out, it is just possible that he is, like Neufeld
and some others, a prisoner in the Khalifa's hands; or possibly living
as an Arab cultivator near El Obeid. Many prisoners will be taken, and
from some of these we may learn such details, of the battle, as may
clear us of the darkness that hangs over your father's fate.

"When you do go home, Gregory, you had best go first to your father's
brother. His address is on a paper in the envelope. He was heir to a
peerage, and has, perhaps, now come into it. I have no reasons for
supposing that he sided with his father against yours. The brothers
were not bad friends, although they saw little of each other; for your
father, after he left Oxford, was for the most part away from England,
until a year before his marriage; and at that time your uncle was in
America, having gone out with two or three others on a hunting
expedition among the Rocky Mountains. There is, therefore, no reason
for supposing that he will receive you otherwise than kindly, when once
he is sure that you are his nephew. He may, indeed, for aught I know,
have made efforts to discover your father, after he returned from
abroad."

"I would rather leave them alone altogether, Mother," Gregory said
passionately.

"That you cannot do, my boy. Your father was anxious that you should be
at least recognized, and afterwards bear your proper name. You will not
be going as a beggar, and there will be nothing humiliating. As to your
grandfather, he may not even be alive. It is seldom that I see an
English newspaper, and even had his death been advertised in one of the
papers, I should hardly have noticed it, as I never did more than just
glance at the principal items of news.

"In my desk you will also see my bank book. It is in your name. I have
thought it better that it should stand so, as it will save a great deal
of trouble, should anything happen to me. Happily, I have never had any
reasons to draw upon it, and there are now about five hundred and fifty
pounds standing to your credit. Of