r ordering me not
to do this or that. One would think I was a perfect baby still and he
was a grown-up man. I'm sorry, that's all. Father feels the same too,
I know. He as good as told me so the other day. Never mind, I won't
let it worry me. I shall be out of the Grange in a few days, and when
next term's done I shall go up to London to coach for the army."

How long Jack would have soliloquised it would be difficult to state.
He was completely lost in the brownest of brown studies, so much so that
he did not heed the noise of hoofs clattering up behind him, and only
woke with a start when another rider had drawn his steed in close at his
side, and given him a smack on the back which almost knocked the breath
out of his body.

"Dreaming, eh? Good gracious, the lad's wool-gathering!" exclaimed the
stranger--a dark, dapper little man, with a clean-shaven face,--giving
vent to a hearty chuckle. "What in the world's the matter, lad?"

"Oh, is that you, Dr Hanly?" exclaimed Jack.

"Of course it is!--who else would it be? What's the matter, my boy?"
answered the doctor kindly. "Troubles at home--eh? Well, don't worry
about them. They'll mend themselves, and you'll be back at school
soon."

Dr Hanly looked sympathisingly at Jack, and patted him gently on the
shoulder. He was an old friend of Captain Somerton, and had known for a
long while how matters were at the Grange. Indeed, outside the family
no one knew so well what quarrels there were, and what trials the
captain and his son had to put up with. Nor was it in his professional
capacity alone that the doctor had obtained his information. He had
long been an intimate friend of Jack's father, and had known and
appreciated the former mistress of Frampton Grange.

"Well, Jack, when do you leave school?" he continued. "The captain
tells me he intends sending you shortly to a crammer's, who will coach
you for the army. Fine profession, my boy; a fine profession! You'll
make one in a long line, for, if I make no mistake, the Somertons have
held commissions for years. I've no doubt you will enjoy a soldier's
life. From what one hears it is not all so smooth and easy as one would
think. There's a gay uniform and a jolly life on the surface, but
behind the scenes there's sure to be plenty of tough work--marching and
drilling and so on. But--halloo!--who's this! Someone in a desperate
hurry evidently. Want me for sure; a doctor never has a moment he ca