o that the young fellow was a
great deal better off than the vast majority of men in the army. It was
the airs he gave himself, on the strength of being able to indulge in
an expenditure such as no one else in the regiment could attempt--by
keeping three or four race horses in training, and other follies--that
had more to do with his unpopularity, than his constant talk about the
peerage he was so confident of getting."

"Of course you will go home to England, at once," Colonel Wingate said.
"The war is over now, and it would be rank folly for you to stay here.
You have got the address of the lawyers who advertised for you; and
have only to go straight to them, with your proofs in your hand, and
they will take all the necessary steps.

"I should say that it would facilitate matters if, as you go through
Cairo, you were to obtain statements or affidavits from some of the
people who knew your mother; stating that you are, as you claim to be,
her son; and that she was the wife of the gentleman known as Gregory
Hilliard, who went up as an interpreter with Hicks. I don't say that
this would be necessary at all, for the letters you have would, in
themselves, go far to prove your case. Still, the more proofs you
accumulate, the less likely there is of any opposition being offered to
your claim. Any papers or letters of your mother might contain
something that would strengthen the case.

"It is really a pity, you know, when you have done so well out here,
and would be certain to rise to a high post under the administration of
the province; (which will be taken in hand, in earnest, now), that you
should have to give it all up."

"I scarcely know whether to be pleased or sorry, myself, sir. At
present, I can hardly take in the change that this will make, or
appreciate its advantages."

"You will appreciate them, soon enough," one of the others laughed. "As
long as this war has been going on, one could put up with the heat, and
the dust, and the horrible thirst one gets, and the absence of anything
decent to drink; but now that it is all over, the idea of settling down
here, permanently, would be horrible; except to men--and there are such
fellows--who are never happy, unless they are at work; to whom work is
everything--meat, and drink, and pleasure. It would have to be
everything, out here; for no one could ever think of marrying, and
bringing a wife, to such a country as this. Women can hardly live in
parts of India, but