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any rate it will be a satisfaction to get it all over at once."

There were indeed quite a large number of men and women assembled in

front of the house--all the tenants, with their wives and families,

having gathered to greet their young landlord--and loud bursts of

cheering arose as he rode up, Sydney and Mr. Popham reining back

their horses a little to allow him to precede them. Cyril took off

his hat, and bowed repeatedly in reply to the acclamations that

greeted him. The tenants crowded round, many of the older men

pressing forward to shake him by the hand.

"Welcome back to your own again, Sir Cyril!"

"I fought under your father, sir, and a good landlord he was to us

all."

Such were the exclamations that rose round him until he reached the

door of the mansion, and, dismounting, took his place at the top of

the steps. Then he took off his hat again, and when there was silence

he said,--

"I thank you heartily, one and all, good friends, for the welcome

that you have given me. Glad indeed I am to come down to my father's

home, and to be so greeted by those who knew him, and especially by

those who followed him in the field in the evil days which have, we

may hope, passed away for ever. You all know, perhaps, that I owe my

return here as master to the noble generosity of Mr. Harvey, your

late landlord, who restored me the estates, not being bound in any

way to do so, but solely because he considered that he had already

been repaid the money he gave for them. This may be true, but,

nevertheless, there is not one man in a hundred thousand who would so

despoil himself of the benefits of a bargain lawfully made, and I beg

you therefore to give three cheers, as hearty as those with which you

greeted me, for Mr. Harvey."

Three cheers, as long and loud as those that had before risen,

responded to the appeal.

"Such a man," Cyril went on, when they subsided, "must have been a

just and good landlord to you all, and I shall do my best to give you

no cause for regret at the change that has come about."

He paused for a moment to speak to Mr. Popham, who stood beside him,

and then went on,--

"I did not know whether I could ask you to drink to my health, but I

learn from Mr. Popham that the cellars have been left well filled;

therefore, my first orders on coming to the house of my fathers will

be that a cask of wine shall be speedily broached, and that you shall

be enabled to drink my health. While that is being done, Mr. Popham

will introduce you to me one by one."

Another loud cheer arose, and then the tenants came forward with

their wives and families.

Cyril shook hands with them all, and said a few words to each. The

elder men had all ridden by his father in battle, and most of the

younger ones said, as he shook hands with them,--

"My father fell, under Sir Aubrey, at Naseby," or "at Worcester," or

in other battles.

By the time all had been introduced, a great cask of wine had been

broached, and after the tenants had drunk to his health, and he had,

in turn, pledged them, Cyril entered the house with Sydney and Mr.

Popham, and proceeded to examine it under the guidance of the old man

who had been his father's butler, and whose wife had also been a

servant in Sir Aubrey's time.

"Everything is just as it was then, Sir Cyril. A few fresh articles

of furniture have been added, but Mr. Harvey would have no general

change made. The family pictures hang just where they did, and your

father himself would scarce notice the changes."

"It is indeed a fine old mansion, Cyril," Lord Oliphant said, when

they had made a tour of the house; "and now that I see it and its

furniture I am even more inclined than before to admire the man who

could voluntarily resign them. I shall have to modify my ideas of the

Puritans. They have shown themselves ready to leave the country and

cross the ocean to America, and begin life anew for conscience'

sake--that is to say, to escape persecution--and they fought very

doughtily, and we must own, very successfully, for the same reason,

but this is the first time I have ever heard of one of them

relinquishing a fine estate for conscience' sake."

"Mr. Harvey is indeed a most worthy gentleman," Mr. Popham said, "and

has the esteem and respect of all, even of those who are of wholly

different politics. Still, it may be that although he would in any

case, I believe, have left this property to Sir Cyril, he might not

have handed it over to him in his lifetime, had not he received so

great a service at his hands."

"Why, what is this, Cyril?" Sydney said, turning upon him. "You have

told us nothing whatever of any services rendered. I never saw such a

fellow as you are for helping other people."

"There was nothing worth speaking of," Cyril said, much vexed.

Mr. Popham smiled.

"Most people would think it was a very great service, Lord Oliphant.

However, I may not tell you what it was, although I have heard all

the details from my father-in-law, Mr. Goldsworthy. They were told in

confidence, and in order to enlighten me as to the relations between

Mr. Harvey and Sir Cyril, and as they relate to painful family

matters I am bound to preserve an absolute silence."

"I will be content to wait, Cyril, till I get you to myself. It is a

peculiarity of Sir Cyril Shenstone, Mr. Popham, that he goes through

life doing all sorts of services for all sorts of people. You may not

know that he saved the lives of my three sisters in a fire at our

mansion in the Savoy; he also performed the trifling service of

saving Prince Rupert's ship and the lives of all on board, among whom

was myself, from a Dutch fire-ship, in the battle of Lowestoft. These

are insignificant affairs, that he would not think it worth while to

allude to, even if you knew him for twenty years."

"You do not know Lord Oliphant, Mr. Popham," Cyril laughed, "or you

would be aware that his custom is to make mountains out of molehills.

But let us sit down to dinner. I suppose it is your forethought, Mr.

Popham, that I have to thank for having warned them to make this

provision? I had thought that we should be lucky if the resources of

the establishment sufficed to furnish us with a meal of bread and

cheese."

"I sent on a few things with my messenger yesterday evening, Sir

Cyril, but for the hare and those wild ducks methinks you have to

thank your tenants, who doubtless guessed that an addition to the

larder would be welcome. I have no doubt that, good landlord as Mr.

Harvey was, they are really delighted to have you among them again.

As you know, these eastern counties were the stronghold of

Puritanism, and that feeling is still held by the majority. It is

only among the tenants of many gentlemen who, like your father, were

devoted Royalists, that there is any very strong feeling the other

way. As you heard from their lips, most of your older tenants fought

under Sir Aubrey, while the fathers of the younger ones fell under

his banner. Consequently, it was galling to them that one of

altogether opposite politics should be their landlord, and although

in every other respect they had reason to like him, he was, as it

were, a symbol of their defeat, and I suppose they viewed him a good

deal as the Saxons of old times regarded their Norman lords."

"I can quite understand that, Mr. Popham."

"Another feeling has worked in your favour, Sir Cyril," the lawyer

went on. "It may perhaps be a relic of feudalism, but there can be no

doubt that there exists, in the minds of English country folks, a

feeling of respect and of something like affection for their

landlords when men of old family, and that feeling is never

transferred to new men who may take their place. Mr. Harvey was, in

their eyes, a new man--a wealthy one, no doubt, but owing his wealth

to his own exertions--and he would never have excited among them the

same feeling as they gave to the family who had, for several hundred

years, been owners of the soil."

Cyril remained for a fortnight at Upmead, calling on all the tenants,

and interesting himself in them and their families. The day after his

arrival he rode into Norwich, and paid a visit to Mr. Harvey. He had,

in compliance to his wishes, written but a short letter of

acknowledgment of the restitution of the estate, but he now expressed

the deep feeling of gratitude that he entertained.

"I have only done what is right," Mr. Harvey said quietly, "and would

rather not be thanked for it; but your feelings are natural, and I

have therefore not checked your words. It was assuredly God's doing

in so strangely bringing us together, and making you an instrument in

saving our lives, and so awakening an uneasy conscience into

activity. I have had but small pleasure from Upmead. I have a house

here which is more than sufficient for all my wants, and I have, I

hope, the respect of my townsfellows, and the affection of my

workmen. At Upmead I was always uncomfortable. Such of the county

gentlemen who retained their estates looked askance at me. The

tenants, I knew, though they doffed their hats as I passed them,

regarded me as a usurper. I had no taste for the sports and pleasures

of country life, being born and bred a townsman. The ill-doing of my

son cast a gloom over my life of late. I have lived chiefly here with

the society of friends of my own religious and political feeling.

Therefore, I have made no sacrifice in resigning my tenancy of

Upmead, and I pray you say no further word of your gratitude. I have

heard, from one who was there yesterday, how generously you spoke of

me to your tenants, and I thank you for so doing, for it is pleasant

for me to stand well in the thoughts of those whose welfare I have

had at heart."

"I trust that Mrs. Harvey is in good health?" Cyril said.

"She is far from well, Cyril. The events of that night in London have

told heavily upon her, as is not wonderful, for she has suffered much

sorrow for years, and this last blow has broken her sorely. She

mourns, as David mourned over the death of Absalom, over the

wickedness of her son, but she is quite as one with me in the

measures that I have taken concerning him, save that, at her earnest

prayer, I have made a provision for him which will keep him from

absolute want, and will leave him no excuse to urge that he was

driven by poverty into crime. Mr. Goldsworthy has not yet discovered

means of communicating with him, but when he does so he will notify

him that he has my instructions to pay to him fifteen pounds on the

first of every month, and that the offer of assistance to pay his

passage to America is still open to him, and that on arriving there

he will receive for three years the same allowance as here. Then if a

favourable report of his conduct is forthcoming from the magistrates

and deacons of the town where he takes up his residence, a

correspondent of Mr. Goldsworthy's will be authorised to expend four

thousand pounds on the purchase of an estate for him, and to hand to

him another thousand for the due working and maintenance of the same.

For these purposes I have already made provisions in my will, with

proviso that if, at the end of five years after my death, no news of

him shall be obtained, the money set aside for these purposes shall

revert to the main provisions of the will. It may be that he died of

the Plague. It may be that he has fallen, or will fall, a victim to

his own evil courses and evil passions. But I am convinced that,

should he be alive, Mr. Goldsworthy will be able to obtain tidings of

him long before the five years have expired. And now," he said,

abruptly changing the subject, "what are you thinking of doing, Sir

Cyril?"

"In the first place, sir, I am going to sea again with the Fleet very

shortly. I entered as a Volunteer for the war, and could not well,

even if I wished it, draw back."

"They are a stiff-necked people," Mr. Harvey said. "That the

Sovereigns of Europe should have viewed with displeasure the

overthrow of the monarchy here was natural enough; but in Holland, if

anywhere, we might have looked for sympathy, seeing that as they had

battled for freedom of conscience, so had we done here; and yet they

were our worst enemies, and again and again had Blake to sail forth

to chastise them. They say that Monk is to command this time?"

"I believe so, sir."

"Monk is the bruised reed that pierced our hand, but he is a good

fighter. And after the war is over, Sir Cyril, you will not, I trust,

waste your life in the Court of the profligate King?"

"Certainly not," Cyril said earnestly. "As soon as the war is over I

shall return to Upmead and take up my residence there. I have lived

too hard a life to care for the gaieties of Court, still less of a

Court like that of King Charles. I shall travel for a while in Europe

if there is a genuine peace. I have lost the opportunity of

completing my education, and am too old now to go to either of the

Universities. Not too old perhaps; but I have seen too much of the

hard side of life to care to pass three years among those who, no

older than myself, are still as boys in their feelings. The next best

thing, therefore, as it seems to me, would be to travel, and perhaps

to spend a year or two in one of the great Universities abroad."

"The matter is worth thinking over," Mr. Harvey said. "You are

assuredly young yet to settle down alone at Upmead, and will reap

much advantage from speaking French which is everywhere current, and

may greatly aid you in making your travels useful to you. I have no

fear of your falling into Popish error, Sir Cyril; but if my wishes

have any weight with you I would pray you to choose the schools of

Leyden or Haarlem, should you enter a foreign University, for they