or straightened himself up and
stood for a moment staring out of the window. "No, Cai," he said
resolutely, squaring his chin; "not for worlds."

"There's one little bit of it, sir, you got to have back," said Cai;
"an' that's my fifty pound."

"Nonsense, man. I sha'n't hear of it."

"I've a-talked it over wi' the woman, an' she's agreeable. She says
'tis the only right an' proper thing to be done."

"She may be as agreeable as--as you deserve, Cai; but I tell you I
don't touch a penny of it. And you may have formed your own opinion
of me during twelve years of service, but in all that time I don't
think you ever knew me go back on my word."

"That's truth, sir," Cai admitted, scratching his head again;
"and more by token, 'tis about the only thing the book has forgot to
praise 'ee for."

"Perhaps," said the Major, in his bitterness almost achieving a
witticism, "the author felt 'twould be out of place."

"But all this apart, sir, I don't see how you'll get along without
money."

"Make your mind easy on that score, my friend. I rather fancy that
I'm provided for; but if that should prove to be a mistake, I may
come to you for advice."

"Marryin'?" queried Cai. "But no; with a wooden leg--you'll excuse
me--"

"Devil take the man! _You_ can't argue that womenkind are
squeamish."

Cai grinned, "You'll take on this little job, anyway, sir? I can't
very well go to his Worship an' beg you off; it might set him
suspectin'."

"I'll take the job," said the Major, hastily.

"Brayvo! But what I'd like to do"--Cai rubbed his chin
reflectively--"is to get that cussed book written over agen, an'
written different."

"Give it time," his master answered sadly. "Maybe even that is a job
that will get itself done one of these days."

Cai and his bride had departed, and the Major faced the ordeal of
Regatta Day with much trepidation. Heaven help him to play his part
like a man!

But it appeared that the sightseers, who, as ever, began to pour into
the town at nine in the morning and passed the door in one steady,
continuous stream until long past noonday, had either seen the Hymen
Hospital before or were intent first on culling the more evanescent
pleasures of the day. In fact, no visitor troubled him until one
o'clock, when, in the lull between the starts of the sailing and the
rowing races, and while the Regatta Committee was dining ashore to
the strains of a brass band, a farm labourer in his Sunday