doctor."

"Oh, very well," said that gentleman.

"Then you don't think there is anything to be alarmed about?" said Frank
anxiously.

"Pooh! no; not a bit more than if you had cut your finger with a sharp
knife. Now, if the bullet had gone in there, or there, or there, or
into his thick young head," said the doctor, making pokes at the lad's
body as he lay on the bed, "we should have some excuse for being
anxious; but a boy who has had his arm scratched by a bullet! The idea
is absurd. I say, colonel, are boys of any good whatever in the world?"

"Oh yes, some of them," said the colonel, smiling and giving Frank a
kindly nod. "Good night, my lad. There will be no need for you to sit
up, I think."

"Not a bit, Gowan," said the doctor quietly. "Don't fidget, boy. He'll
be all right."

Frank looked at him dubiously.

"I mean it, my lad," he said, in quite a different tone of voice. "You
may trust me. Good night."

He shook hands warmly with the boy, and all but Captain Murray left the
chamber, talking about the scare that the shots had created in the
Palace.

"I hear they thought the Pretender had dropped in," said the doctor
jocosely. Then the door was shut, and the sound cut off.

"I'll leave you now, Frank, my lad," said Captain Murray. "Take one of
the pillows, and lie down in the next room on the couch. There's an
extra blanket at the foot of the bed. I will speak to my servant to be
on the alert, and to come if you ring. Don't scruple to do so, if you
think there is the slightest need, and he will fetch the doctor at once.
You will lie down?"

"If you think I may," said Frank, as he walked with him to the door of
the sitting-room, beyond earshot of the occupant of the bed.

"I am sure you may, my boy. The doctor only confirmed my own
impression, and I feel sure he would know at a glance."

"But Drew seems quite insensible, sir."

"Yes--seems," said Captain Murray. "There, trust the doctor. I do
implicitly. I think he proved his knowledge in the way he saved Baron
Steinberg's life. Good night. You will have to be locked in; but the
sentry will have the key, and you can communicate with him as well as
ring, so you need not feel lonely. There, once more, good night."

The captain passed out, and Frank caught sight of a tall sentinel on the
landing before the door was closed and locked, the boy standing pale and
thoughtful for some moments, listening to the retiring steps of his