r
you might want me for anything."

"No, I shan't want you at all, George. I told you so yesterday.
However, after breakfast I will walk over to the farm with you. I
only had time for a word with your father yesterday, but I told him
that I would come over to see them sometime today."

Accordingly, after an hour's talk with his agent, Frank Mallett
walked over to the farm with George. The latter's father and mother
were both in the house, an unusual thing at that time of day with
the former, but he had said at breakfast to his son:

"You must look after things by yourself today, lad. The Squire said
yesterday that he would come over sometime, and I would not be out
when he came, not for a twenty pound note."

He and his wife came to the door when they saw Frank coming across
the field towards the house.

"Well, Lechmere," the latter said, when he came up. "I am glad to
see you and your dame looking so well and hearty. I had not time to
say more than a word to you yesterday, and I wanted to have a
comfortable talk with you both. I wrote you a line telling you how
gallantly George had behaved, and how he had saved my life; but I
had to write the day afterwards, and my head was still ringing from
the sabre cut that had for a time knocked all the sense out of me,
and therefore I had to cut it very short. How gallantly he defended
my life against a dozen of the enemy's cavalry was shown by the
fact that he received the Victoria Cross, and I can tell you that
such an immense number of brave deeds were performed during the
Mutiny that George's must be considered an extraordinary act of
bravery to have obtained for him that honour."

By this time they had entered the farmhouse parlour. George had not
followed them in, but on inquiring where he was likely to find Bob,
had gone off to join him.

"I was proud to hear it at the time, Squire; and when it was in the
papers that our George had got the Victoria Cross, and all our
neighbours came in to congratulate us, we felt prouder still. Up to
the time when we got your letter, we did not know for sure where he
was. He had said he meant to enlist, and from the humour that he
was in when he went away we guessed it to be in some regiment where
he could get to the wars. We felt the more glad, as you may guess,
from the fact that both the Missus and I had wronged him in our
thoughts. We learnt that before we got the news, and it was not
until we knew that we had been wrong that