rock,
which broke the force of the ocean swell entirely. Then, too, the place
was very lonely and seldom visited, for the main road lay nearly two
miles back beyond the clifis.

Whether my mother actually knew of all that was going on I do not know;
but I do know that about this time she seemed paler than ever, and we
frequently saw her and Ruth talking earnestly together; and Ruth and
Walter, too, were always whispering to each other.

Sunday came, and as my mother, since her quarrel with the Reverend Mr
Sampson over the flogging of old Callaghan, did not now go to church,
we all, except my father, who was still on friendly terms with the
clergyman, remained at home, my mother herself conducting a short
service in the dining-room, at which all the servants, free and bond,
attended. In the afternoon Major Trenton, Captain Crozier and some other
soldier officers rode up, as was customary with them on Sundays, and
Ruth and Denham brought them brandy and water on the front verandah,
where they awaited my mother and sisters.

'Harry, you young rascal,' said Major Trenton, presently to my eldest
brother, 'what did you do with Mr Moore's picture of the parson, eh?'

'It was stolen from me, sir,' he answered, laughing, 'about three or
four months ago.'

'Indeed,' said the major; 'then the thief has principles, and will
doubtless send it back to you, for he has made a score of copies of
it, and they are all over the district. Why, the rascal, whoever he is,
nailed one to the door of the Commissariat Store not long ago, and the
first person to see it was Mr Sampson himself. He is mightily wroth
about it, I can tell ye, and somehow suspects that the picture came from
someone in this house, and told your father that these copies were given
about by your man Trenfield. So just ye give a hint to the fellow, and
tell him that if the parson gets a chance to tickle his back, faith
he'll do it.'

'I am sure, sir, that Walter did not take the picture,' said my brother.
'It was nailed up over my bed and one day I missed it. I thought that
my mother had destroyed or taken it away. But she had not, and I cannot
account for its disappearance.'

Now this was hardly true, for, from something they had heard from Ruth,
both Harry and my sister Frances thought that Thomas May had taken away
the caricature, intending to replace it.

'Well, never mind, my lad,' said Major Trenton, laughing, ''tis a
monstrous fine joke, anyway, and, faith,