it. I'll give'e as much more
out of my old stocking upstairs. Put it carefully by, lad. Money is
as useful in war as at other times, and pay ain't always regular;
maybe the time may come when the young master may be short of
money, and it may come in useful. Now put on thy riding coat; and
mother will put thy best clothes in a valise.

"Bustle up, mother, there bain't no time to lose."

Thus addressed, Mrs. Parsons dried her tears and hurried away.
Hugh, hitching the bridle over a hook, made his way to his room to
change his clothes. When he came down, all was ready.

"Thy clothes are in the valise, Hugh. I have put on the holsters,
and the pistols are in them. They are loaded, boy. In the bottom of
one are the master's twenty-five pounds. Thy own money is in the
valise. Here, boy, is my father's sword; it hasn't been used since
Naseby, but it's a good blade. Thou art a deft hand at quarterstaff
and singlestick, though, and I doubt not that thy hands can guard
thy head. I need not say, Hugh Parsons, you will, if need be, die
for thy master, for I know thou will do it, lad. Now kiss thy
mother, boy; and God speed you."

A long embrace with his father and mother, and then Hugh, blinded
by his tears, mounted his horse, and rode off in the track of
Rupert.

After an hour's sharp riding he overtook him, at a wayside inn,
just across the boundary between Derby and Leicestershire.

"Is it all right, Hugh?" he asked, as Hugh drew up at the door.

"All right, Master Rupert. Father has sent thee twenty-five pounds
out of the rent that will be due at Lady day; and he doubts not
that the colonel will approve of what he has done. H ow long have
you been here?"

"Only some five minutes, Hugh. We had best let the horses feed, and
then ride quietly into Leicester, it's only fifteen miles away. I
see you've got a sword."

"A sword and pistols, Master Rupert; and as you have the same,
methinks any highwayman chaps we might meet would think twice ere
they venture to cry 'Stand and deliver.'"

"You heard no word of whether James Brownlow was alive or dead,
Hugh? I should be very glad to hear that he is not killed."

"No word of the matter had come to the farm when I came away," Hugh
said; "but I should not worry about it one way or the other, Master
Rupert. You'll kill lots more when you get to the wars; and the
country won't grieve over James Brownlow. Young as he was, he was a
bad one; I've heard more than one dark story