conscious that he could
not recommend his present with such romantic phrases and touches of
poetry as would be gratifying to her fine sense. Were he to find
himself in her presence with the necklace he must depend on himself
for his words; but a letter might be sent in his own handwriting, the
poetry and romance of which might be supplied by another.

Now it had happened that Tom had formed a marvellous friendship in
Rome with Colonel Stubbs. They had been hunting together in the
Campagna, and Tom had been enabled to accommodate the Colonel with
the loan of a horse when his own had been injured. They had since met
in London, and Stubbs had declared to more than one of his friends
that Tom, in spite of his rings and his jewelry, was a very good
fellow at bottom. Tom had been greatly flattered by the intimacy,
and had lately been gratified by an invitation to Aldershot in order
that the military glories of the camp might be shown to him. He
had accepted the invitation, and a day in the present week had been
fixed. Then it occurred to him suddenly that he knew no one so
fitted to write such a letter as that demanded as his friend Colonel
Jonathan Stubbs. He had an idea that the Colonel, in spite of his red
hair and in spite of a certain aptitude for drollery which pervaded
him, had a romantic side to his character; and he felt confident
that, as to the use of language, the Colonel was very great indeed.
He therefore, when he went to Aldershot, carefully put the bracelet
in his breast-pocket and determined to reveal his secret and to ask
for aid.

The day of his arrival was devoted to the ordinary pursuits of
Aldershot and the evening to festivities, which were prolonged too
late into the night to enable him to carry out his purpose before
he went to bed. He arranged to leave on the next morning by a train
between ten and eleven, and was told that three or four men would
come in to breakfast at half-past nine. His project then seemed to be
all but hopeless. But at last with great courage he made an effort.
"Colonel," said he, just as they were going to bed, "I wonder if you
could give me half-an-hour before breakfast. It is a matter of great
importance." Tom, as he said this, assumed a most solemn face.

"An hour if you like, my dear boy. I am generally up soon after six,
and am always out on horseback before breakfast as soon as the light
serves."

"Then if you'll have me called at half-past seven I shall be ever so