ry hard as he could, he could not get near
enough to make one touch.

"Arms and head, my lad; sharp."

Better satisfied now that he would not hurt his adversary, Roy struck
down at the near shoulder, but his sword glanced away. Then at the
head, the legs, everywhere that seemed to offer for a blow, but always
for his blade to glance off with a harsh grating sound.

"There, it's of no use; you can't get near me, my lad," said Ben, at
last.

"Oh, yes, I can. I was afraid of hurting you. I shall hit hard as
hard," cried Roy, who felt nettled. "But I don't want to hurt you.
Let's have sticks."

"I'll get sticks directly, sir. You hit me first with the sword."

"Oh, very well; if you will have it, you shall," cried Roy, and, without
giving any warning now, he delivered a horizontal blow at the old
soldier's side; but it was turned off just as the dozen or so which
followed were thrown aside, and then, with a quiet laugh, the old fellow
said--

"Now, every time you hit at me, I could have run you through."

"No, you couldn't," said Roy, sharply.

"Well, we'll see, sir. Put that down, and use this; or, no, keep your
sword; the hilt will protect your hand in case I come down upon it."

He took up a stout ash stick and threw himself on guard again, waiting
for Roy's blow, which he turned off, but before the next could descend,
the boy's aim was disordered by a sharp dig in the chest from the end of
the ash stick; and so it was as he went on: before he could strike he
always received a prod in the chest, ribs, arms, or shoulders.

"Oh, I say, Ben," he cried at last; "I didn't know you could use a stick
like that."

"Suppose not, my lad; but I knew you couldn't use a sword like that.
Now, I tell you what: you'd better come to me for an hour every morning
before breakfast, and I'll begin to make such a man of you as your
father would like to see when he comes back."

"Well, I will come, Ben," said the lad; "but my arm does not ache so
much now, and I don't feel quite beaten. Let's have another try."

"Oh, I'll try all day with you, if you like, sir," said the old soldier;
"only, suppose now you stand on guard and let me attack."

"With swords?" said Roy, blankly.

"No, no," said Ben, laughing; "I don't want to hurt you. We'll keep to
sticks. Better still: I want you to get used to handling a sword, so
I'll have the stick and you shall defend yourself with a blade."

"But that wouldn't be fair to you,"