. But he dared not
precipitate matters by speaking.

Brian recollected his purpose at last, however. After a short interval
of silence he turned his eyes upon Hugo, who was standing near him, and
said, gently--

"Sit down, won't you?--then we can talk."

There was a fallen log on the ground. Hugo took his seat on it meekly
enough, but continued his former occupation of digging up, with the
point of a stick that he was carrying, the roots of all the plants
within his reach. He was so much absorbed by this pursuit that he seemed
hardly to attend to the next words that Brian spoke.

"I ought, perhaps, to have had a talk with you before," he said.
"Matters have been in a very unsettled state, as you well know. But
there are one or two points that ought to be settled without delay."

Hugo ceased his work of destruction; and apparently disposed himself to
listen.

"First, your own affairs. You have hitherto had an allowance, I
believe--how much?"

"Two hundred," said Hugo, sulkily, "since I joined."

"And your pay. And you could not make that sufficient?"

Hugo's face flushed, he did not answer. He sat still, looking sullenly
at the ground. Brian waited for a little while, and then went on.

"I don't want to preach, old fellow, but you know I can't help thinking
that, by a little decent care and forethought, you ought to have made
that do. Still, it's no good my saying so, is it? What is done cannot be
undone--would God it could!"

He stopped short again: his voice had grown hoarse. Hugo, with the dusky
red still tingeing his delicate, dark face, hung his head and made no
reply.

"One can but try to do better for the future," said Brian, somewhat
unsteadily, after that moment's pause. "Hugo, dear boy, will you promise
that, at least?"

He put his hand on his cousin's shoulder. Hugo tried to shrink away,
then, finding this impossible, averted his face and partly hid it with
his hands.

"It's no good making vague promises," he said by-and-bye. "What do you
mean? If you want me to promise to live on my pay or anything of that
sort----"

"Nothing of that sort," Brian interrupted him. "Only, that you will act
honourably and straightforwardly--that you will not touch what is not
your own----"

Hugo shook off the kindly hand and started up with something like an
oath upon his lips. "Why are you always talking about that affair! I
thought it was past and done with," he said, turning his back upon his
cousin, an