fe, and held all such soft ways only suitable for ladies--contrasted
the journey with the last; and took the radiant day like a good omen. He
wished Nell could have been with him to have the roses blown in her
cheeks by the delicious fresh wind. However, he was going to bring her
home roses, pink roses; the white rose in his Nelly's cheek did not at
all please him.

The little house was quite near the railway, a gabled, two-storied
cottage with diamond-paned windows, and creepers and roses all over its
walls. Even yet on the sheltered side there was a monthly rose or two on
the leafless bushes. The house basked in the sun; and Mrs. Langrishe's
red-and-white collie came to meet the General, wagging his tail with a
friendly greeting.

The maid who opened the door smiled on him. She knew him for Miss
Nelly's father; and Nelly had a way of making herself beloved by
servants wherever she went, and not only because she was ready always to
empty her little purse among them.

Mrs. Langrishe? Mrs. Langrishe was out, but was expected in to lunch.
The Captain had just come in. Would Sir Denis see him?

Sir Denis would see the Captain. He followed the maid through the clean,
orderly little house, every inch of it shining with the perfection of
cleanliness, to the study at the back which opened on the garden.
Captain Langrishe was sitting in a chair in a dejected attitude at the
moment the General first caught sight of him. He sprang to his feet,
turning red and pale when he saw who his visitor was.

"Well, my lad," the General said, taking the uninjured left hand in a
cordial grip. "And how do you feel?"

Langrishe looked up at him with shy eyes.

"To tell the truth, Sir Denis, not very cheerful. I have been, in fact,
keeping company with the blue devils pretty well since I came home. You
know----"

"Yes, I know. We must hope for the best. But, if you can't carry a sword
any longer, why it must mean that the Master of us all has another post
for you. And now, why didn't you come to Sherwood Square?"

"I couldn't, with this in suspense," Langrishe stammered. "It is most
kind of you to come to see me."

"My dear boy," the General put his hand on Langrishe's shoulder, "you
must come, with this in suspense. Do you know that my girl has looked
for you day after day?"

The young man flushed and stared at the General's kind face in
bewilderment.

"I would rather die than cause her a minute's pain," he said, with quiet
ferv