w short days before, Blair would have pronounced Hal a coward,
and left him in disdain. Now he stood silent for a moment, baffled and
puzzled. "I'll teach you to swim, Hal," he said at length. "We'll try in
shallow water first, where you couldn't drown, unless you wish to drown
yourself. It is easy--just as easy as any thing, if you only know how.
I'll come for you after school this evening, and we'll go up the creek,
where the boys wont be about. I shouldn't wonder if you were to take to
it like a fish."

The English boy looked into Blair's frank pleasant face, and the dogged
expression passed from his own. He took Blair's hand as he said, "I'll
try. You shall see what you can make out of me."

Before many weeks were over, Hal Hutchings was as good a swimmer as half
the boys in Fairport. Old Jock no longer waded into the deep water to
set his nets or push his boat ashore. He declared that Hal had scared
the rheumatism out of his bones, and it was not likely to make bold to
come back, if things went on as they seemed to promise.

CHAPTER V.

BLAIR'S COMPANY.

Blair Robertson had long had a famous military company of his own,
called the Fairport Guard. A guard _against what_ had never been
publicly stated; and as they had no written constitution for their
association, posterity must ever remain in ignorance on this point. Up
and down the streets of Fairport it was their delight to parade on a
Saturday afternoon, to the infinite amusement of the small girls who ate
molasses candy and looked at the imposing array.

The breaking out of the war infused a new military spirit into all the
youngsters on the Atlantic coast, and the Fairport Guard came in for
their share of this growing enthusiasm. Cocks' tail feathers and
broomsticks were suddenly in great requisition for the increasing rank
and file, and the officers bore themselves with added dignity, and gave
out their orders with an earnestness which proved that they appreciated
the work they were imitating.

When it was rumored that Blair Robertson had become a communicant in the
church to which his mother belonged, there was a general groan among his
old followers and adherents. Here was an end, in their minds, to the
Fairport Guard, and every other species of fun in which Blair had been
so long a leader and abettor.

Blair was at first inclined to shrink from his old companions; but as
the right spirit grew and strengthened within him, he mingled among th