ance; but I see that, somehow, he has entirely got rid of the
tattoo marks; and his skin is now very little, if at all, darker
than that of many of us, so that I shall be able to put him in
harness at once."

After dinner was over and cigars lighted, Stanley told his story as
before, passing over lightly the manner in which he had gained the
friendship of the Burman. When he had finished, however, Major
Pemberton said:

"With your permission, general, I will supplement the story a
little. Mr. Brooke has told me somewhat more than he has told you,
but I gained the whole facts from his guide's own lips."

"No, major, please," Stanley said colouring, even under his dye.
"The matter is not worth telling."

"You must permit us to be a judge of that, Mr. Brooke," the general
said, with a smile at the young fellow's interruption of his
superior officer.

"I beg your pardon, Major Pemberton," Stanley stammered in some
confusion. "Only--"

"Only you would rather that I did not tell about your struggle with
the leopard. I think it ought to be told, and I am pretty sure Sir
Archibald Campbell will agree with me," and Major Pemberton then
gave a full account of the adventure in the forest.

"Thank you, major. You were certainly quite right in telling the
story, for it is one that ought to be told and, if Mr. Brooke will
forgive my saying so, is one of those cases in which it is a
mistake for a man to try to hide his light under a bushel.

"You see, it cannot but make a difference in the estimation in
which we hold you. Most young fellows would, as you did, have
joined their countrymen when threatened by a greatly superior enemy
and, again, most would, if prisoners, have taken any opportunity
that offered to effect their escape. Therefore, in the brief
account that you gave me, this morning, it appeared to me that you
had behaved pluckily and shrewdly, and had well earned a
commission, especially as you have a knowledge of the language. You
simply told me that you had been able to render some service to the
Burman who travelled down with you, but such service might have
been merely that you assisted him when he was in want, bound up a
wound, or any other small matter.

"Now we find that you performed an act of singular courage, an act
that even the oldest shikaree would have reason to be proud of.
Such an act--performed, too, for a stranger, and that stranger an
enemy--would, of itself, give any man a title to the estee