says he. By Gosh! he was stuck by a lancer at Quatre Bras, and me with
not so much as a slip o' paper to prove the debt! Them three
half-crowns is as good as lost to me."

The colonel rose from his chair laughing. "The officers of the Guards
want you to buy yourself some little trifle which may add to your
comfort," he said. "It is not from me, so you need not thank me." He
took up the old man's tobacco pouch and slipped a crisp banknote inside
it.

"Thank ye kindly, sir. But there's one favour that I would like to ask
you, colonel."

"Yes, my man."

"If I'm called, colonel, you won't grudge me a flag and a firing party?
I'm not a civilian; I'm a guardsman--I'm the last of the old Third
Guards."

"All right, my man, I'll see to it," said the colonel. "Good-bye; I
hope to have nothing but good news from you."

"A kind gentleman, Norah," croaked old Brewster, as they saw him walk
past the window; "but, Lordy, he ain't fit to hold the stirrup o' my
Colonel Byng!"

It was on the very next day that the old corporal took a sudden change
for the worse. Even the golden sunlight streaming through the window
seemed unable to warm that withered frame. The doctor came and shook
his head in silence. All day the man lay with only his puffing blue
lips and the twitching of his scraggy neck to show that he still held
the breath of life. Norah and Sergeant Macdonald had sat by him in the
afternoon, but he had shown no consciousness of their presence. He lay
peacefully, his eyes half closed, his hands under his cheek, as one who
is very weary.

They had left him for an instant and were sitting in the front room,
where Norah was preparing tea, when of a sudden they heard a shout that
rang through the house. Loud and clear and swelling, it pealed in
their ears--a voice full of strength and energy and fiery passion.
"The Guards need powder!" it cried; and yet again, "The Guards need
powder!"

The sergeant sprang from his chair and rushed in, followed by the
trembling Norah. There was the old man standing up, his blue eyes
sparkling, his white hair bristling, his whole figure towering and
expanding, with eagle head and glance of fire. "The Guards need
powder!" he thundered once again, "and, by God, they shall have it!" He
threw up his long arms, and sank back with a groan into his chair. The
sergeant stooped over him, and his face darkened.

"Oh, Archie, Archie," sobbed the frightened girl, "what do you think o