for yourself! Dear, dear! and it seems
only yesterday that you went off with a thigh done up in plaster and as
stiff as a ramrod, and here you are returning a little weak after your
illness, but a man, every inch of you, and with a lovely lady by your
side. Lucky dog! Introduce me. Miss Eileen, I shall take the liberty
of an old man and a very old friend of Jack's, and shall give you a
kiss. You are a lucky girl, let me tell you, for amongst all our plucky
lads there is only one Jack Somerton. Well, there is Mrs Somerton
calling us, and--'pon my word, here is old Banks."

It was indeed a splendid welcome. No sooner had one shaken Jack by the
hand than someone else appeared; a gardener, a groom who had seen some
service, and now there was fat old Banks, who had been reinstated,
waddling up, beads of perspiration on his smiling face, and his hair
almost standing on end with excitement.

"Master Jack, it's just going to be like old times again," he murmured,
and then shook his hand violently and coughed loudly to get rid of the
big lump he felt sticking in his throat.

A home-coming after a long separation is the greatest of joys, and
Jack's was indeed a happy one. Everyone seemed to have a kind word for
him, and, what he appreciated far more, a welcome for Eileen Russel.

At home, then, happy and contented, we will leave him, anxiously
watching the doings of his comrades out in Africa, and patiently waiting
for that day when Eileen should become his wife.

And, meanwhile, his days were fully occupied. Invitations poured in
upon him to dine with the gentry round about, and many a time was Jack
compelled against his will to narrate his doings with the gallant
British troops. And chief of all those tales, the one most appreciated,
was that describing the defence of Caesar's Camp in Ladysmith, and how
he had stood there shoulder to shoulder with the Highlanders and
riflemen, keeping the Boers at bay "With Rifle and Bayonet."

The End.

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