lad softly.
"I say, I wish we could be friends--but no; impossible. You could not
be, with one like me."

"I don't see why not," said Waller. "We are good enough friends now.
There, I am sorry I knocked you about so much and treated you as I did.
I didn't know you were so weak and hungry. Will you shake hands?"

"Will I shake hands?" cried the lad, with all the effusion of a young
Frenchman, and catching the one which Waller stretched out, he held it
tightly for a few moments between his own, holding it until Waller drew
it away.

"There," he said, "I must be going back now. There isn't much left, but
I must have the empty basket. You had better lie down here and have a
good rest, and I will come back to you in the evening and see if I can't
think out some way of helping you to get down to Lymington."

"To Lymington? Yes!" cried the boy eagerly; for now that he was
somewhat refreshed the light seemed to come back into his eyes, and a
certain eagerness into his whole aspect. "But, look here," he said, "a
little while ago I thought I had nothing to do but lie down and die; now
you have made me feel as if I want to live. Could you--can you find out
whether there are any soldiers near?"

"I don't know, but I'll try," said Waller. "But I say, talk about
soldiers--we never picked up that pistol, and I don't believe we could
find it now."

"Here it is," said the lad, pointing to his breast. "I crawled about
till I found it after you had gone."

"Then you had better give it to me to put away. Pistols are nasty
things."

Waller held out his hand, but the lad shrank back, with a suspicious
look.

"Oh, very well," said Waller, rising; "don't trust me unless you like."

"I do trust you," cried the lad eagerly; and, snatching out the pistol,
he pressed it into the other's hand.

"There, they will be wondering what has become of me," cried Waller. "I
will come back and see you in the evening, and by then I shall have
thought of somewhere for you to hide to-night. Good-bye."

Waller hurried off, thinking deeply to himself, and making the best of
his way for about a hundred yards.

"I wish I hadn't brought away his pistol," he said. "He will be
thinking again that I am going to betray him. Here, I shall take it
back."

He made his way as fast as he could to where he had left his new friend,
expecting to see him raise his head as he drew dear; but he looked in
vain, for when he reached the spot, and par