'He helps us to pack-drill, or C. B., or cells!' replied Tim Stokes with grim humour.

This needed to be explained to Teddy, who went on after it was made clear to him: 'Ah! my Captain always helps me. Mr. Upton says when I do wicked things and get beaten by the enemy, I must call out to my Captain, and He will come at once and help me.'

'I reckon I've heard tell of your Captain, then, for that fellow Saxby is always dinning it into me; but I can't come to religion nohow—I can't make head or tail of it. I tell you, youngster, I've been having an awful time lately, and I can't keep to it. I'm certain sure the drink will do for me again. I can't keep away from it much longer, and this march'll see the end of my teetotal ways, I'm thinking.'

'And won't my Captain help you?'

'I'm not a hand at prayers and psalm-singing.'

'I wish you'd talk to Mr. Upton; he made me enlist a short time ago, and I've been ever so much happier since I did it.'

They were walking across the field leading to the farm, and as they came to the stile the soldier leant heavily on it. Turning his face full on the child, he said determinedly, 'I'm not a-goin' to talk to any Mr. Upton or no one about it. I'd as lief hear you as a parson. You mind me of a little brother of mine that died ten years ago. "Tim," he said, just afore he went, "Tim, will you meet me in heaven?" He was the only one I ever loved, and I've lived a dog's life since!'

His eyes were moist with feeling, and for a minute Teddy looked at him silently in pitying wonder. Then he said, 'Look here, Bouncer, this is what Mr. Upton said to me. He told me Jesus had died for me, and how dared I keep from being His soldier when He loved me so? You know that, don't you?'

'Ay, so Saxby tells me; but it don't make no difference.'

'No more it didn't to me,' continued the boy eagerly, 'until I went to God and enlisted. I did it quite by myself in the wood. You do it too, Bouncer—you give yourself to God as His soldier, and He'll take you and keep you.'

'I've been too bad; it keeps me wakeful at nights, the very thinkin' of it!'

'But won't God forgive you if you ask Him to?'

'Saxby says so; but I don't know. The fact is, a soldier can't be a Christian in the Army.'

'I don't believe you want to be one of God's soldiers,' said Teddy in a disappointed tone; 'you keep making 'scuses!'

There was silence; then Tim Stokes heaved a heavy sigh.

'I won't come no further, youngster; I ain't in a mind to-day to see company, but I'll be at the tea to-night.'

'Oh, Bouncer, do come!' and Teddy's eyes filled with tears. 'You promised you would. I do want you to see mother and granny!'

But Tim wheeled round and strode off with something like a sob in his throat. Teddy had little idea of the mighty conflict in his breast. The child's words had awakened many memories, and Tim was at that stage now when the powers of good and of evil were contending for his soul.

'He don't believe I want it, for I keep making excuses!' muttered the poor man. 'Ay, I do; but I haven't got over the longing to be different. I'd cut off my right hand, I do believe, if I could be as Saxby is. I can't bring myself up to the point; that's it!'

Meanwhile, poor little Teddy crept indoors with a sad face, to announce to his mother the failure of his mission.

'He was nearly here, mother—just the other side of the hedge outside—and yet he turned back!'



CHAPTER VII

Uplifted and Cast Down

It was a bright, cheery gathering a few hours later. Mr. Upton had thrown his whole heart into the scheme, and had been round with his tickets to a few outlying inns, where more of the men were billeted, so that there were altogether over forty redcoats assembled. Mrs. John and two other neighbours were in charge of the tea and coffee, and Teddy and Nancy, with one or two other children, as a special favour, were allowed to help to wait on the guests. The tables were decorated with flowers; meat-pies, cold beef and ham sandwiches disappeared in a marvellous manner, and the cakes and bread-and-butter with watercress were equally appreciated. Towards the end of the meal several ladies came forward and sang, and one or two part-songs were also given by some of the guests staying at the Hall.

'Now,' said Colonel Graham in his brisk, hearty tones, 'before we have a few words from Mr. Upton, I should like to tell you how glad I am to see the redcoats about me once more. I know your regiment well, for my own, the 10th Hussars, lay with it in Colchester ten years ago. I am sure you have all enjoyed your tea, but perhaps you do not know who was the instigator of the whole thing. We must thank Mr. Upton for his untiring zeal and energy in making arrangements; we must thank the ladies for trying to make the evening pleasant by their songs; but we must thank a little man here, I am given to understand, for the proposal in the first instance.'

And to Teddy's intense surprise the colonel swung him up on the impromptu platform, to receive a deafening round of applause.

He made a pretty picture as the light fell on his golden curls and sparkling blue eyes; his cheeks were flushed with excitement, but he bore himself bravely, and he held his head erect as he faced the crowded room.

'He will speak to you better than I can,' the colonel added, with a smile, 'for I'm a poor speaker myself. I'm the old soldier here to-night, and my fighting days are past; his are all in the future, and he looks forward to wear the red coat with the rest of you. I hope he'll bear as brave a part in the Service as his father did before him. Now, my boy, have you anything to say?'

'It will turn his head,' murmured Mrs. John to herself; but her mother's heart swelled with pride as his clear voice rang out,—

'It wasn't I who thought about the tea, it was Corporal Saxby,' (cheers). 'I haven't anything to say, unless you'd like me to tell you father's story. I've told it once to-day, but you weren't all there. May I, sir?'

'Certainly,' was the colonel's amused reply.

Teddy had never had such an audience before in his life, but he was quite equal to the occasion. Fingering his button, he began in his usual impetuous fashion. The very eagerness for his father's deed to be honoured prevented him from any feelings of self-consciousness, and he carried his audience by storm.

The ladies were delighted and touched by it, and Mrs. John quietly wiped some tears from her eyes.

And then Mr. Upton got up. His dreamy manner in speaking was absent now, and he spoke straightly and forcibly to those in the Queen's service of the battle to be waged with sin. Touching on their special difficulties and temptations, he told them how absolutely impossible it was for them to be, in their own strength, a match for the devil with all the powers of evil at his back, and how the same Saviour who died for them, would keep them, and lead them on to certain victory, if they would but enlist in His service. Nothing could exceed the attention with which he was listened to, and the evening ended by their rising to their feet and singing 'God Save the Queen.' Then a sergeant rose to propose a vote of thanks, cheers were given, and all departed, greatly pleased with their evening. Teddy slipped up to Tim Stokes on going out.

'Shall I see you again?' he asked.

'I shall be busy to-morrow; we march out at eight in the morning.'

'Oh, I shall come and see you off.'

Tim lingered, then laying his hand heavily on the boy's fair curls, he said, 'God bless you, little chap! I've done it.'

Teddy's eyes lit up at once. 'Have you—really and truly?'

He nodded. 'My heart's full, and I can't speak of it, but I was away near the woods there by myself before the tea, and it's all right with me. I only wonder I didn't do it before. I wouldn't yield, that's the fact. Don't forget to pray for me, youngster.'

And he dashed out after his comrades, as if ashamed to show his emotion.

Teddy called his mother to him when in bed that night.

'Mother, I will be a soldier, I'm certain sure I will; but I'm very glad I can be one of God's soldiers without waiting to grow up. And I think I shall be a recruiting sergeant for God now; I'm sure He wants lots more soldiers, doesn't He?'

'Indeed He does, my boy. Now go to sleep; you have had a very exciting day.'

'But the best of all is,' said Teddy sleepily, 'that Bouncer has enlisted.'

There was quite a crowd of villagers and children the next morning round the Hare and Hounds. The soldiers were drawn up outside, waiting for the approach of their regiment from the town to fall in and march on with them. Teddy and Nancy were, of course, there; the little girl, in spite of her alleged disdain of soldiers, was delighted to be in their vicinity. Teddy could not get near his friend Bouncer, but he received a friendly nod from him in the distance, and as for Bouncer's face, it was like sunshine itself, a marked contrast to the day before. As the band was heard approaching, cheers were given to the men now leaving, and a tall corporal who had much enjoyed his tea the night before stooped to ask of Nancy, who was standing close to him, 'What's the name of that curly-headed youngster who got us the tea?'

Nancy looked up at him mischievously: 'The button-boy! That's what I call him, and I shan't never call him anything else!'

Then the corporal's voice rang out clear and loud,—

'Three cheers for the little button-boy !' which was taken up enthusiastically by the soldiers, and Teddy hardly knew whether he was on his head or heels from excitement and delight. But he had to pay a penalty for his prominent position. From that day the title of the 'button-boy' stuck to him, and it became his nickname in the village by all who knew him.

On came the regiment, with the colours flying and the band playing in the most orthodox style, and Teddy was bitterly disappointed when the warning bell of school prevented him from marching along the road with them.

The schoolmaster was very lenient with the boys that morning, or else they would have been in dire disgrace, for lessons were imperfectly learned and said, and never had he found it so difficult to keep their attention.

But if Teddy was inattentive and careless at school, he was doubly troublesome at home, and for the next few days his mother's fears were realised. The excitement of all that had taken place seemed to have quite turned his head for the time. He jumped on Kate Brown's back—the hired girl—when she was carrying two pails of milk to the dairy, and the contents of both pails were spilt and wasted; he shut up a fighting bantam cock and the stable cat into a barn, and left them fighting furiously; he locked one of the farm-labourers in a hayloft, and pulled away the ladder, so that he was not released for hours, and he proved such an imp of mischief in the house that even his mother meditated handing him over to his uncle to be whipped.

At last it came to a climax in school. He brought a lot of young frogs in a handkerchief, put some of them in the master's desk, and amused himself at intervals by slipping the others down the backs of the boys seated in front of him. His corner was the most unruly one in the room, and whilst waiting for another class to come down he began one of his stories in a whisper to a most interested audience.

'I went to see a goblin once that I heard of. He lived in a tub on the seashore, and he lived by gobbling up schoolmasters and governesses. He used to cut their hair off, scrape them well like a horse-radish, and then begin at their toes and gobble them up till he got to their heads—their heads he boiled in a saucepan for soup. The boys and girls used to bring their masters, when they didn't—'

'Edward Platt!'

Never had the master's voice sounded so stern. The frogs were discovered!—and his wrath was not appeased by seeing the cluster of heads round Teddy, and catching a few words of the delicious story going on.

Teddy started to his feet.

'Who put these frogs here?'

'I did, sir.' The answer was boldly given.

'Come here!'

And amidst the sudden hush that fell on all the boys, Teddy walked up to the master's desk with hot cheeks and bent head.

'Edward Platt, for the last three days you have been incorrigible. I have kept you in, and given you extra tasks, but neither has had any effect. Now I shall have to do what I have never yet done to you. Hold out your hand.'

Teddy's head was raised instantly, and holding himself erect he bore unflinchingly the three or four sharp strokes with the cane that the master thought fit to give him.

'Now,' said the master, 'you can go home. I will dispense with your attendance for the rest of this morning.'

Teddy walked out without a word: he felt the disgrace keenly, but it was the means of bringing him to himself, and rushing away to a secluded corner in a field he flung himself down on the ground and sobbed as if his heart would break. Half an hour after his uncle, happening to pass through that field, came across him.

'Why, Ted, what be the matter?' he inquired as he lifted him to his feet.

Teddy's tear-stained face and quivering lips touched him so, that he sat down on a log of wood near, and drew him between his knees.

'Are you feeling bad—are you hurt?' was the next question; and then Teddy looked up, and in a solemn voice asked, 'What does the Queen do when her soldiers are beaten instead of getting a victory?'

'I—I'm sure I doan't know. I can't remember the time when we was beaten. I reckon she's sorry for them.'

'Doesn't she turn them out of her army?'

'Why, noa!'

'What does God do when His soldiers leave off fighting, and knock under to their enemy?'

'I reckon He's sorry too.'

Dimly Jake Platt began to see the drift of the child's questions. Teddy shook his curly head mournfully. 'I'm sure He'll have to turn soldiers out of His army if they give up fighting, and let the banner drag in the dust, and just let the enemy do what they like with them. Why, I've done worse than that!'—here he clenched his little fists and raised his voice excitedly—'I've gone with the enemy, I've joined Ipse, and that's being a deserter, and now I shan't never, never be able to get back again!'

His uncle looked sorely puzzled.

'Why ain't you at school? What have you been a'doin'?'

Teddy told him all in a despairing tone, adding,—

'I can't meet mother—I've been caned, and—and I've disgraced my button!'

Here his tears burst out afresh.

'Look here,' said his uncle slowly, 'I won't say but what you've been a bad boy—your mother herself has been in sore trouble about you this last day or two; but if we gets a fall in the mud it ain't much good stopping there; the only thing is to pick ourselves up agen, get ourselves cleaned, and then start agen and walk more carefully. Can't you do that?'

'I'm a deserter,' sobbed the boy; 'my Captain won't have me back. I've disgraced Him, I've disgraced my banner, I've disgraced my button!'

'Your Captain will pick you up, I'm thinkin', if you ask Him. He'll clean you up fust-rate, and set you on your legs agen.'

'Will He?' And hope once more began to dawn in the dim blue eyes.

'Of course He will. I ain't good at verses and such like, but I do remember this one—"Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." Won't that one fit you?'

Teddy did not answer. He stood looking up wistfully into the blue sky, as if unconscious of his uncle's presence, and then he sighed. 'I think I'd rather be alone, Uncle Jake.'

Jake left him without a word, and went home to prepare Mrs. John for what had happened.'

She was much distressed, but, like a sensible woman, took the right view of the case.

'He wanted to be pulled up sharp; my poor boy, is he much hurt?'

The caning was such a minor point of Teddy's grief that Jake confessed to knowing nothing about it. Mrs. Platt was inclined to be indignant with the schoolmaster.

'Such a tiny little chap as he is, so full of feeling and nerves—he hadn't ought to have done it.'

Yet only that morning she herself had almost given him a sound whipping for one of his mad pranks!

Shortly after Teddy crept in, and shutting the door behind him, put his back against it.

'Mother, granny,' he said, 'I've been an awful boy at school this morning, and I'm in disgrace. I've been caned.'

His tone was tragic, then he added slowly, 'But I'm very sorry, and I'm sorry I've been so naughty at home, and I'm going to start again, because my Captain has forgiven me.'

And then Mrs. John did the wisest thing she could do. She asked no questions, but got some warm water and took him off to wash his face and hands. She saw the red marks across the little hand, but refrained from making much of it; and then, after putting his curly head in order, she drew it to her shoulder, and putting her arms round him, she said,—

'My sonny, mother is so glad her little son feels his naughtiness. She has been praying much for him to-day. And now tell me all about it.'



CHAPTER VIII

In the Clover Field

'Please, Mrs. Platt, can I see Teddy?'

'I think he is out in the clover field. Don't you be romping round with him now, for he's taken his Sunday book out, and is as quiet as can be.'

It was Nancy who was standing at the farmhouse door one lovely Sunday evening. Old Mrs. Platt was the only one at home, and she motioned with her hand where her little grandson would be found.

Nancy discovered him a few minutes later, lying full length in the sweet-scented clover, an open book before him. When he raised his face to hers, it wore his most angelic look.

'Hulloo! what have you come here for?' he asked.

'To talk to you,' and, without more ado, Nancy squatted down beside him. 'What are you doing?' she went on; 'and what's your Sunday book?'

'It's the Pilgrim's Progress. I love it; don't you? I haven't been reading it though for a long time. I've been having a beautiful make-up.'

'Tell me,' and Nancy's tone was eager.

Teddy looked away to the purple hills in the distance, and beyond and above them to the soft evening sky, with its delicate fleecy clouds flitting by, and taking every imaginable form and shape as they did so.

The dreamy, far-away look came into his eyes as he said slowly,—

'It's a Sunday make-believe, quite one to myself, and I've never told it to any one. I can only tell it to myself out of doors, when it's still and quiet, and then I feel sometimes it's quite real!'

'Do tell me,' pleaded Nancy coaxingly.

'Well, it's getting to heaven—after I'm got there, you know.'

Nancy's eyes grew big with awe.

'Shall I tell you how I begin it?'

She nodded, and Teddy, turning over on his side, brought forth another book—a New Testament.

Turning to an open page he began to read with great emphasis,—

'"And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God."'

'That's the Bible,' said Nancy.

'Yes; now listen. I'm lying here in this field; it's very, very still. I hear a little rustle behind. I don't look round, and then, flash! comes a beautiful white angel. Now he's standing in front of me.'

'What's he like?'

'He's dressed in white shiny stuff, and he has very white feathery wings. His face is smiling. He has eyes like mother's, and hair like Sally White's.'

'Flaxen, mother says it is,' put in Nancy.

'Yes; he stands quite still. Hush! hear him!—"Teddy, I've come to fetch you to heaven." And then I stand up. I listen hard, but I don't say anything. He says, "You haven't been altogether a good soldier, but the Captain says He wants you. Come along." Then I get up and sit myself between his wings, and put my arms round his neck, and he begins to go up. I see mother, and granny, and Uncle Jake, and I wave my hand to them, and mother throws a kiss at me and calls out, "Give my love to father," and away we go, over our fields and across the high road, and over Farmer Green's fields, and then we fly right to the top of that mountain over there!'

'Do let me come, too!' said Nancy. 'I want to be on the angel's back with you.'

'P'raps you can follow behind on another angel; I want mine all to myself. We get up to the top of the mountain, then I stand down on the ground.'

'And me, too!' put in Nancy.

'You mustn't keep stopping me; I can't feel it if you do. I stand there, and I think at first I can't see nothing but a lot of little soft clouds, one above the other, just like those over there; but the angel says, "Put your foot on one of them, and then on the next one—they're the steps to heaven!"'

'Oh!' gasped Nancy, following it with keen reality; 'you'll tumble!'

'I don't; it's like putting your foot in cotton wool. I go up—I have to go quite by myself, but the angel comes behind, to see I don't fall. And then he says, "Look up; don't you see the gates?" And then I look, and I see them—shining gold gates, very big, and covered with jewels like Mrs. Graham wears on her fingers. I go up and up, and then I'm there.'

'Is that all?'

'Why, that's just the beginning. I'm only outside. The gates are shut, but when they see me coming, two more angels come and swing them wide open, and I'm feeling rather frightened, but I walk in. There's a long wide street made like the gates, and I walk very carefully, for fear of slipping down, then I see a lot of angels coming along with trumpets, and then they go first and begin to play like the soldiers' band. I march on to a very, very, very big door, and there on the steps leading up stands my Captain.'

Teddy paused. 'I can't tell you what He's like, but I feel what He's like myself. Such a loving, kind face, and He puts His hand on my head and says, "Well done, Teddy!" And then I take hold of His hand, and I think I cry.'

Matter-of-fact Nancy sees with surprise that Teddy's eyes are filling with tears at the thought.

He went on softly, 'I think He takes me up in His arms then, because I'm very tired, and He carries me into the most beautiful garden you ever saw in your life, and He takes me to father, who is waiting there.'

'Tell me what the garden's like.'

Teddy does not speak; he is full of the meeting with his father, and Nancy waits a little impatiently.

'The garden is lovely,' he said at last, drawing in a breath of delight at the thought. 'It's always sunny and warm, the grass is very soft and green, and there's every flower in the world all bunched up together. The seats are made of roses, and if you want to go to sleep, the pillows are made up of violets; there's a beautiful river, and trees full of apples and oranges, and plums and pears; the banks are red—they're made of strawberries.'

'Oh,' gasped Nancy, 'how lovely!'

'There are summer-houses, and little white boats to row on the river, and gold harps hanging up on the trees; and then I think, I hope, there are lots of dogs running about, and then you can ride all day on lions, and tigers, and bears, and they won't bite you, but lick your hands.'

'Go on. What else?'

'Then we stand up and sing hymns when my Captain comes by, and we play on the harps, and blow the trumpets as much as ever we like. I think my Captain sometimes comes and sits down and talks to us and tells us stories.'

There was silence; then Nancy said, 'Is that all?'

'That's enough for you,' said Teddy, a little condescendingly. 'I think and make believe a lot more.'

'I want to go to heaven,' Nancy said thoughtfully.

Then Teddy came back to earth.

'Have you enlisted yet?' he asked.

'I'm not going to be a soldier,' said Nancy quickly.

'Well, you'll never get to heaven if you don't fight for our Captain now. He won't let you inside the gates unless you belong to Him. Girls can fight just as much as boys.'

'Of course they can. I can fight as well as you, button-boy!'

'Why don't you fight your enemy, then?'

'What enemy?'

'My enemy is called Ipse. He's a dreadful trouble to me. You've got yours—the thing inside you that makes you want to do naughty things; you've got to fight it, and do the good things instead. I've had two fights with Ipse to-day.'

'Have you? Do tell me!'

'You mustn't tell any one, then. It was in church this morning. There was an old woman in front of me, and she'd untied her bonnet, and the ribbons fell over in our pew. She went fast asleep in the sermon, and nodded her head back till it almost tumbled off her head, and Ipse thought if I would put out my hand and just give a tiny, weeny pull at the ribbon, it would come right off!'

Nancy clapped her hands. 'Why didn't you? What fun!'

'I wanted to let Ipse have his way dreadful, but I remembered I must fight him, and I did. I asked my Captain to help me, and then I put both my hands in my pockets, and screwed up my eyes tight. But I was glad when she woke up and tied her bonnet on again.'

'That was much gooder than I could have been. What's the other fight you had?'

'Uncle Jake brought some fresh honey from the hives, and he put it on a plate in the window in the kitchen. He said when he went out of the room, "Don't touch that, Teddy," as I was waiting for mother to come to church with me, and I went up and looked at it. Ipse said to me, "Just put one finger in it." And I had to fight him very hard over that, but I ran away out of the room.'

'And do you always fight him hard?'

'No; I often forget till it's too late. Mother said I must ask my Captain to make me remember. I do ask Him a lot to help me.'

'I don't think I like that sort of fighting.'

'Nancy, I wish you'd give yourself to God as His soldier.' Teddy turned round earnestly as he spoke.

'I think,' said Nancy slowly, 'I like to be naughty best.' Then she added, with quick change of tone, 'My father is coming home soon, and he'll come to see us here. Then you'll see what a grand sailor he is. He is much grander than your father was.'

'My father was an officer,' said Teddy proudly.

'So's my father; he is a first-class petty officer'; and Nancy brought out the words slowly and with much emphasis.

'My father was a non-commissioned officer,' said Teddy, determining not to be beaten; 'he was a full sergeant.'

'My father gives orders to all the sailors, and they have to do what he tells them.'

'So did my father, and he led the soldiers through a battle.'

'My father will fight in twenty battles before he dies, and yours only fought in one.'

'My father is in heaven, and that's the grandest place to be in.'

Coming to this climax was too much for Nancy, and the thoughts of that place of which they had been having so much talk subdued their rising ire.

Teddy said reproachfully, after a minute's silence, 'Ipse was nearly getting angry with you then. You're such a dreadful girl for making me quarrel with you.'

'You won't let me say my father is as good as yours,' protested Nancy.

'He isn't better. Yes—don't get angry, Nancy; let's say they're just the same.'

And with this admission Nancy was for the time pacified.

Before they parted she looked at her little companion with solemn eyes.

'I won't promise, but I'll think about belonging to the Captain. I should like to go to heaven.'

It was one day soon after this that Teddy was straying over the fields in his happy, careless fashion; fond as he was of games with the village boys, often there were times when he liked his own society best, and he wandered on talking to himself, and gathering grass and wild-flowers as he went. His quick eyes soon noted some sheep making their way through a gap in the hedge, and from thence they were going through an open gate into the high road.

'Those are Farmer Green's sheep,' quoth he to himself. 'I'm glad of it—horrid old man he is! No, Ipse, be quiet; that isn't the way to think of him. I'll go and drive them back again!'

And he trotted off with this intention; but it is much more difficult to get sheep into their rightful place than out of it, and this Teddy found to his cost. His face was hot and red, his voice hoarse with shouting, and then, to his consternation, Farmer Green appeared on the scene.

'You young vagabond,' he shouted, springing towards him, a thick stick in hand, 'leave my sheep alone! How dare you come on my premises? You're always after some fresh trick or other.'

Teddy stood still till he came up to him, then looked up frankly at him.

'Indeed, sir, I was trying to drive them back through their hole again. Look, that's where they broke through.'

'A likely story! Much more probable you made the hole yourself.'

Teddy's blood rushed into his face. 'I never tell a lie!' he cried, 'and you're a—'

He stopped, and hung his head in shame at the word that almost slipped from him.

Jonathan Green looked curiously at him.

'Now may I ask what the end of that speech was going to be?' he said grimly.

Teddy looked up. 'Ipse was going to say you was a liar yourself, but I just stopped him in time.'

'I shall believe you have a bee in your bonnet, as some folks say,' said the farmer; 'pray, if the sheep came out of their proper field, what business was that of yours?'

'I wanted to be good to you. I'm sorry I tied you up that day, dreadful sorry. And I've got to love you, so I thought it would be a good plan to send your sheep back again.'

'You've got to love me!' repeated the farmer, opening his eyes in mock surprise; 'and when did I ask for any of your love, young fellow?'

'I don't suppose you want me to,' observed Teddy cheerfully, as he saw that the stick, instead of being brandished over his head, was now safely resting on the ground, 'but I've got to do it, you see, because my banner I'm holding for my Captain is Love, and I must love everybody.'

The farmer did not answer. Teddy continued earnestly,—

'Do you think you could manage to forgive me, and let us shake hands? It would make it easier for me to love you if you could.'

There was such honesty of purpose in the blue eyes raised to his, such wistful curves to the sensitive little lips, that Jonathan Green for the first time felt the thrall of the child's power.

'Come into the house with me,' he said, 'and I'll see what the missus has to say to you.'

Teddy followed him without the slightest misgiving, and he was led into the farmhouse kitchen, where Mrs. Green sat knitting over the fire, and one of her daughters was laying the cloth for tea.

'Mary Ann, here's the scamp of the village come to see you; keep him here till I come back. I'm after some stray sheep'; and shutting the door with a bang the farmer disappeared.

Teddy shook hands with the old lady and the young one, and then seated himself in the big chair opposite Mrs. Green.

'What have you been doing?' the latter inquired; 'how is it your mother can't keep you out of mischief?'

'I haven't been in mischief, really I haven't'; and poor Teddy felt the truth of the saying, 'Give a dog a bad name, and hang him.'

He tried to tell his story, and then when that did not seem to be understood, he deftly changed the subject.

'What does Farmer Green like best in the world?' he asked.

This astonishing question struck Mrs. Green dumb, but her daughter Natty laughed.

'Gooseberry pudding!' she said. 'Now then, what's the next question?

But Teddy was silent, and not another word did he say till the farmer came in again.

'This youngster is on the tack of reforming himself, Mary Ann,' said Jonathan, sitting down in the chair that Teddy immediately vacated upon his entrance; 'do you believe it?'

'I have no faith in boys,' said Mrs. Green, with a shake of her head, 'they're all alike, and are always taking you unawares!'

'You hear what the missus says; you won't get no help from that quarter. But I'll give you a chance; would you like to stop to tea with us?'

Teddy smiled. 'Thank you, sir, but mother will expect me home to tea; may I go now? And do you forgive me for what I did the other day?'

Farmer Green stretched out a hard horny hand, and took the boy's small one. 'Here's my hand on't!' he said with his grim smile. 'I may be a fool for believing you, but if you're sorry for the past, I won't be the one to rake it up.'

Teddy's upward look was so full of innocence that he received a clap on the shoulder.

'Run along; you've made your peace with me.'

And speeding away Teddy whispered to himself,—

'I shall ask mother to make it, and I shall pick the gooseberries myself, and then he'll know I love him!'

Farmer Green was much bewildered a few days after at receiving a parcel which was left at his house by some boys on their way back from school; he was still more puzzled when upon opening it, it proved to be a gooseberry pudding in a basin, with a piece of paper attached to it, and these words in very shaky writing, 'I send you my love.—Teddy.'

But his daughter was able to enlighten him, and they had a hearty laugh over Teddy's mode of confirming the treaty of friendship.



CHAPTER IX

Lost

Our little soldier had his ups and downs, but on the whole he was making steady progress, and his mother was thankful to see his increased thoughtfulness and gentleness. He was not less merry and joyous, he was still the leader of the village sports, but he was learning how to control his mischievous propensities and to restrain his hasty words and actions. Nancy was a great trial to him sometimes, and yet, though the two were ceaselessly involved in arguments and differences, they could not keep apart for long. Nancy's father arrived, and Teddy had the privilege of being invited to tea, and of hearing the most wonderful yarns from the big brown-bearded man, who, though outwardly rough in voice and manner, had a very soft corner in his heart for his little daughter.

Teddy listened and admired, and satisfied Nancy by his evident appreciation of the sea stories; but when he reached home, and was asked about his visit, he said emphatically,—

'Nancy's father is very nice, but he's nothing like the picture I've got of father, with his red coat and sash and sword, and his voice is so gruff and hoarse, and he shouts so loud, and I shall never, never think sailors are better than soldiers!'

It was after Nancy's father had left her, and when the bright summer days were beginning to close, that one afternoon Teddy and Nancy were fishing together. At least that was their intention, but any one seeing them sitting on the low stone bridge over the river, with their lines dangling carelessly in the water, and their merry laughter and voices ringing out continually, would not be surprised if their fishing did not meet with success. At last they clambered down and wandered along the tow-path, and then suddenly Nancy drew Teddy's attention to his button.

'Why, it's nearly coming off; you'll lose it!' she cried.

'I told mother it was getting loose yesterday. She says she is always sewing it on. I think I'll take it right off and put it in my pocket. Whatever should I do if I was to lose it?'

He was jerking at it as he spoke, and it slipped from his grasp and rolled away on the path. It was too great a temptation for Nancy. Like lightning she was after it, and a moment after stood upright and exultant, with the button clenched tightly in her little hand.

'Give it to me at once!' demanded Teddy, quivering all over with excitement.

Nancy's brown eyes sparkled with mischief.

'Aha! little button-boy, I've got it at last, and I shall take it home and have it sewed on my jacket.'

'I shall fight you,' cried Teddy, 'if you don't give it up at once! It isn't yours. You would be a thief if you kept it. Give it to me this minute!'

'Shall I throw it into the river?' questioned the saucy little maiden.

Teddy darted forward, and then began a tussle. He tried to wrench her hands apart, and she exerted all her strength to keep them closed. Suddenly, with a triumphant cry from Teddy, as Nancy's fingers were beginning to yield, the button was liberated with such force that it flew violently out, and splash into the river it went! Nancy gave a cry, but without a word or sound Teddy plunged in head foremost after it. It was done without a thought. He was a good swimmer, and for a minute Nancy watched him in breathless silence. But when his little head rose out of the water he seemed half stupefied, and cried out in a weak voice, 'Help! I'm drowning!' then sank again. Nancy set up a shout then of frantic agony, and a carter coming over the bridge fortunately heard her, and came to the rescue, not a moment too soon. He threw off his coat and heavy boots, and plunged in just as Teddy's curly head rose for the third and last time. It did not take long to bring him to shore, but he lay in the carter's arms limp and lifeless, and Nancy burst into an agony of tears.

'He's dead! he's dead, and I've killed him!' she cried.

The carter wasted no time in trying to restore animation to the little frame, but all his efforts were unavailing, and at last he said, 'I'll put him in my cart, and drive as fast as I can to the doctor's. It isn't more than a mile off, if so be that he's at home. You go home and fetch his mother as fast as you can.'

Nancy raced off, sobbing as she went, and she was in such a state of excitement that when at length she burst open the farmhouse door she seemed to have lost her speech.

Mrs. John saw her face, and started forwards. 'It's Teddy!' she cried; 'what has happened?'

'He's at—he's going to the doctor's dead!' she gasped, then fell breathless to the floor. Without a word Mrs. John snatched up a shawl, and with white, set face, and lips moving in agonised prayer, she flew along the road to the doctor's. She was shown into the room where the doctor was hard at work; but Teddy lay like a waxen image, with the sweetest smile on his lips, his fair curls clustering round his brow, and only an ugly bump amongst the curls told the reason of his sinking under the water again so suddenly.

In breathless silence the mother stood and watched. 'Don't give him up, doctor!' she cried, as at last the doctor straightened himself and paused, looking at the mother sorrowfully. He shook his head, but set to work again, trying artificial respiration, and leaving no effort untried to bring back the life that had apparently departed.

And then there came the moment when his efforts met with success, for placing his hand against the little heart he felt a feeble throb. He redoubled his efforts; the breath began to appear, a faint colour tinged the blue lips, and at last the heavy eyelids raised, and a faint voice said, 'Mother!'

Mrs. John sank on her knees. 'Thank God!' was all she said, and then she fainted.

Much later in the evening Teddy was placed in his own little bed at home; but though alive, his condition was most critical, and he lay in a heavy stupor, from which it seemed impossible to rouse him. The doctor said he must have struck his head against a stone when first he dived into the river, and this had produced concussion of the brain. Nancy had been taken home before he came, but the news was brought to her that he was still alive, though in great danger, and that was a great comfort to her poor little sorrowful soul.

For many days he lay between life and death. The inquiries after him from every one of his schoolfellows, the Hall, and the different farms and places round, told his mother how much her little son had been beloved. And when on the following Sunday Mr. Upton gave out, in a faltering voice, 'The prayers of this congregation are desired for Edward Platt, who is very dangerously ill,' there was not a dry eye in the church, and one or two audible sobs came from the boys' seats in the gallery.

Mrs. John never left her boy's bedside—night and day she was by him, and many wondered at her calm peacefulness. After the first great shock, she had been able to hand over her child into her Father's loving hands, and rest content with the result; and so she was able, in perhaps the most anxious time of her life, to look up and say, 'Father, not my will, but Thine be done.'

The days slowly passed, and still no change for the better. The doctor came and went with his grave, impenetrable face, and Teddy was still unconscious. Then doubts began to rise in his mother's heart as to whether his reason would ever come back, and she stopped the doctor as he was leaving one morning to ask him the question,—

'If he lives, doctor, will he be an idiot?—my brave, bonny boy! Oh, I would rather have death for him than that!' And the doctor could only give her the meagre consolation, 'He may recover yet. I have seen worse cases than this pull through, and be as bright as ever they were.'

And then, one afternoon, when the setting sun was flooding the room with a golden glory, the little head turned on the pillow. 'Mother!'

The sound of that word, not uttered since she had seen him in the doctor's house that first terrible day, was like the sweetest music in her ear. Stooping over him she met the clear conscious gaze of the blue eyes.

'So tired, mother! Put your hand under my cheek. Good-night.'

The eyelids closed, and the limbs relaxed in healthy sleep. The mother sat down, and though her arm became stiff and weary, not a muscle of it moved.

The doctor came in just before he woke.

'He has spoken; he knew me,' she said; and the doctor nodded and smiled. And then a minute after the boy raised his head.

'Where am I, mother?' he asked feebly.

'In bed, darling. You've been ill.'

'Where's my button?'

'He'll do,' said the doctor contentedly; 'keep him quiet, and feed him up.'

And the glad news went round the village that Teddy was getting better.

It was a bright day for the farm when Teddy was brought down in a blanket and put in the big easy-chair by the fire. His little face and hands looked very fragile, with the blue veins standing out clearly under the transparent white skin, but his large eyes shone with light and gladness. His mother made him comfortable, then left him in his grandmother's charge for a short time. Old Mrs. Platt had had her share of suffering during those sad days; her heart was wrapped up in the boy, and perhaps the greatest trial of all was to stand aloof, and perform her daily work downstairs, whilst her daughter-in-law had the sole charge of him.

She came across to the chair now, and kneeling down in front of it, said, with tears in her eyes, as she took his two little hands into hers, 'Granny has sadly missed her pickle all this while.'

And then Teddy put his little arms round her neck and hugged her close, crushing her cap in the most reckless fashion as he did so.

'I'm getting better every day, granny, and I love you ever so!'

When Mrs. Platt released herself, he went on more soberly, 'I feel very tipsy on my legs. I asked mother to let me walk just now, but I couldn't manage very well. I don't think I shall be able to run fast for a year, shall I?'

'Oh, we'll see you about long before that, please God!'

'And, granny, you know about my sorrow?'

The blue eyes looked wistful at the thought.

'Yes, laddie; but don't think of that now.'

'I told mother I didn't want ever to get well when I first talked about it. I felt I couldn't live without my button, but she told me that was wrong; she said it wasn't being a good soldier to wish to die directly trouble came, and that if I bore my sorrow well God would be pleased. Do you think I'm bearing it well, granny?'

'Yes, yes,' Mrs. Platt said soothingly. 'Look at those lovely flowers and grapes that Mrs. Graham sent to you this morning. Wasn't that kind of her?'

'I don't never forget it,' pursued Teddy, refusing to have the subject changed; 'but I thought this morning that God could give it to me again, and so I'm going to ask Him every day till it comes; and do you know, granny, I think He'll give it to me, only mother says I must be patient.'

Presently he asked, 'Could I see Nancy, one day soon?'

'She comes, on her way to school, every day to ask how you are. Poor little maid! she's taken on dreadful about your illness, and wouldn't eat her food when you were so ill. Her mother got quite anxious about her. We'll send for her in a day or two, if you keep well.' And two days after Nancy appeared. She came up to the big chair very shyly, and looked with awe upon Teddy's white, wasted face; then she cried impulsively,—

'Oh, button-boy, will you ever, ever forgive me? If you had died, I should have killed you!'

'No, you wouldn't,' said Teddy, putting up his face and kissing her. 'I was just as naughty; I shouldn't have tried to fight with you.'

'I go to the river every day,' Nancy went on sorrowfully, 'and Farmer Green brought a big net one day and dragged up a lot of stones and old tin pans, but the button wasn't there. I hope it will be washed ashore one day, and so I look along the banks, but I haven't seen a sign of it yet!'

'I'm asking God to give it back to me every day,' said Teddy, with a little decided nod, 'and I think He'll do it. You ask Him too, Nancy, and perhaps He'll do it quicker.'

'I've asked God every day to make you better, and I promised Him if He would do it I would be the Captain's soldier. Yes, I did, and I said I would give up being a sailor, and be just a soldier, like you are.'

Nancy made this statement with great solemnity, and Teddy beamed with delight.

'And are you really enlisted?'

'I don't quite know, but I'm trying to be good, and I ask Jesus to help me every day.'

Then there was silence. Nancy sat down on the rug, and took the large tabby cat on her lap.

'Did you think you was going to die?' she asked presently.

'I didn't think nothing at all till I woke up, and saw mother crying over me, and then I felt dreadful tired and ill. I asked her one day where she would bury me, for I was sure I was much too ill to get better, and she—well, she smiled, and said God was making me stronger every day. I didn't feel I was better a bit.'

'Would you like to have died and gone to heaven?'

'Yes,' Teddy answered promptly, 'of course I should. Wouldn't you?'

Nancy shook her head. 'I might if I was quite sure the angel would carry me safely all the way without dropping me, or leaving me in the clouds before we got there; but I think I like to live here best. Besides, I don't think I'm good enough to go to heaven yet.'

'I don't think it's being good gets us to heaven. Jesus died to let us, you know, like the hymn says,—

"Jesus loves me! He who died Heaven's gate to open wide; He will wash away my sin, Let His little child come in."

Have you asked Him to forgive you, Nancy?'

Nancy nodded. 'Yes, when you was so ill. I felt I had been so wicked that God was punishing me.'

Here, reverting to more earthly topics, Nancy held up the cat arrayed in her sailor hat and jacket.

'Look, this is Jack Tar! Doesn't she make a jolly sailor?'

A gleeful, hearty peal of laughter came from Teddy, and was heard in the adjoining room by his grandmother with comfort. She called Mrs. John.

'Hear that, now! Why, he's getting quite himself again; it does him good to have a child to talk to. She must come again.'

And this Nancy did, and the roses began to come back to Teddy's cheeks, and then others of his playfellows were allowed to come and see him.

Certainly no little invalid could have received greater attention than he did during that time of convalescence. Every day small offerings were presented at the door by the village children, and very diverse were the gifts. Sometimes a bunch of wild-flowers, sometimes birds' eggs, marbles, boxes of chalk, a packet of toffee or barley-sugar, a currant bun, a tin trumpet, a whistle, a jam tart, a penny pistol, and so on, till his mother declared she would have to stop taking them in, as they were getting such an accumulation of them.

'And how is my little fellow-soldier?' asked Mr. Upton, as he came in one day for his first visit to the little invalid after being downstairs.

'He'll soon be out of hospital,' responded Teddy brightly.

'And is he still fighting for his Captain?'

'I think, sir, Ipse has been very good while I've been ill.'

'He has been lying low, has he? If I mistake not, you will have a brush with him yet before long, so be on the look-out.'

And Teddy found the good rector's words come true. Days came when he tried his mother's patience much by his fractiousness and restlessness, and he was more often the vanquished than the conqueror.

Even Nancy one day remonstrated with him.

'You're nasty and cross to-day. No one pleases you.'

'I want to get out. I'm tired of this old kitchen.'

'If you can't get out, you can't. Being cross won't take you out.' This logic convinced, but did not comfort.

'I expect your Captain won't come near you when you're cross.' And then Teddy burst out crying,—

'I'm not a soldier at all. I don't know how to stand fire, and it's all Ipse, and I'm too tired to fight him!'

Poor little soldier! One above took note of the physical weakness and weariness, and in His tenderness pitied and forgave.



CHAPTER X

Found

It was winter time, and Teddy was back at school, full of health and spirits, yet, through all his boyish mirth, the loss of his button was never forgotten. Daily he prayed for it to be found, and his hope and faith in God never failed him.

'Perhaps God will send it to me for a Christmas surprise. Perhaps I shall find it in my stocking on Christmas morning,' he used to say to his mother; and she told him to pray on.

He had come in from school one cold day in the beginning of December, and was watching with keen interest the roasting of an apple suspended from a string in front of the fire, when there was a sharp knock at the door, and the footman from the Hall appeared.

'The master wants you to let the youngster come up with me now and speak to him.'

'What about?' questioned Mrs. John, rather alarmed at this summons, and wondering if Teddy had been up to mischief.

'He won't keep him long.' Then, as excited Teddy began pulling on his great-coat, he whispered something into his mother's ear, which had the effect of completely reassuring her, and bringing a pleased smile about her lips. Teddy was delighted to go up to the Hall, and he trotted along by the side of the tall young footman, keeping up a brisk conversation as he went.

'I shall never be a footman,' he was asserting; 'I couldn't keep my legs so stiff. You're always like the soldiers when they stand at Attention. Don't you never kick your legs out in the kitchen, or have you got stiff knees?'

'I can kick out as much as I like,' responded the young man, in rather an offended tone.

'Don't you think it's nicer to be a soldier? Wouldn't you like to be one?'

'No; their grub is something shocking, and they live like cattle!'

Teddy would not allow this, and the discussion began to get somewhat heated, when their arrival at the house put an end to it.

'I say, just tell me, is the colonel angry?' asked Teddy, as looking into the large, brightly lighted hall, he suddenly felt his diminutive size.

'Not he. Wipe your feet, and take your cap off.'

Teddy stepped in upon the soft rugs almost on tiptoe, and the colonel himself came out into the hall to meet him. 'Come in, my little man, and don't be frightened.'

Teddy held his head erect as he followed the colonel into a bright, cheery room, where a group of ladies and gentlemen were round the fire enjoying their cup of five o'clock tea.

Mrs. Graham came forward and gave him a kindly greeting.

'This is our would-be soldier,' said Colonel Graham—'the "button-boy," as I hear he is called. Some of you remember his story told in our schoolroom to the regiment passing through in the summer, and we weren't surprised to hear of his narrow escape from death from trying to regain his button. But perhaps you've forgotten all about it, youngster? A button isn't worth much sorrow after the first pang of its loss is over.'

Teddy's face was a picture: the blood rushed up to his forehead, his eyes flashed, and with clenched hands he said boldly, 'Do you think I could ever forget my father's button, sir? I'd rather have it back than anything else in the world! And I'm going to get it back, too!'

'But it's at the bottom of the river, isn't it?'

'I don't know where it is, but God does, and I ask Him every day to send it back to me. I'm quite sure He will, and I think it will be this Christmas.'

The ladies exchanged glances.

'"Fact is stranger than fiction," certainly,' said the colonel. 'Now, my boy, come here.'

He was standing on the hearthrug with his back to the fire, and putting his hand into his pocket he drew out a small box and placed it in the child's hand.

'Open it, and tell me if you recognise the contents.'

Teddy lifted the lid, and then a gasp, and a cry of ecstasy broke from him.

'Oh, my button, my own button! Oh, sir!'

And here the tears welled up in the blue eyes, and, utterly regardless of the place he was in, he flung himself down on the hearthrug and buried his head, face foremost, in his arms. He lay there so still for a moment that Mrs. Graham bent forward to touch him, fearing that the excitement might be too much for him, but he was only trying to hide his emotion from those looking on. In another minute he rose to his feet, and with a face perfectly radiant he turned to, the colonel, 'It's lovely, sir, it's lovely!'

The colonel had had it set in a little gold framework with blue ribbon attached, making it look as much like a medal as possible, and Mrs. Graham now came forward and pinned it to his coat.

'Now, my boy, I don't think you will ever guess how it came into our possession. The other day I brought home a few fish, and in preparing one of these for table our cook discovered your button inside it—I wonder the fish had not come to an untimely end before from such an indigestible meal! She told us of it, not recognising what a valuable treasure she had brought to light, and directly we saw it, we knew it was the redoubtable button that has been the means of causing such interest in our neighbourhood.'

Teddy listened eagerly. 'No wonder no one couldn't find it!' he said, fingering his adornment proudly. 'It's like the fish that brought Peter some money once.'

Then the colonel turned to one of his friends.

'Now, major, what do you think of this youngster? Would you like to take him as a drummer boy into your regiment?'

The major scanned the boy from head to foot, then answered emphatically, 'I wouldn't take a boy with a face like that for a good deal!'

'Why not?' asked Mrs. Graham.

'Because it's the ruination of them. I shall never forget a pretty boy we had once; he was called the "cherub," and had been a chorister—sang divinely. He was only four years in the regiment, and his case was brought to me before he was discharged. He came to us an angel, and departed a finished young blackguard. He drank, stole, and lied to any extent, and was as well versed in vicious sins as any old toper in the regiment. When I see a fresh drummer brought in, I wonder how long he will keep his innocence, and sometimes wish his friends could see the life he is subjected to. I give them a month generally, and then away flies their bloom and all their home training.'

'But, Major Tracy, you are giving us a shocking idea of the morals in the Service,' said one lady.

He shrugged his shoulders. 'I grant you, on the whole, they are better than they were, but the Service is no place for highly strung boys like this one. The rougher, harder natures get on best. When they get older, and have sense and strength enough to stick to their principles, then let them enlist.'

'But I have always heard,' said Mrs. Graham, 'that the drummer boys are well looked after now. They have a room to themselves, and the chaplains have classes for them.'

'That may be. I would only ask you to watch a boy, as I have, from the start, and see what kind of a man he grows into after having spent most of his early youth in the Service. There are exceptions, I know, but precious few, as far as my experience goes.'

Teddy did not understand this conversation, but he gathered from the major's tone that he did not approve of him.

'Do you think I'm too small to be a soldier?' he asked.

The major laughed. 'Don't bother your head about your size,' he said; 'you'll grow, and there's plenty of time before you.'

'I don't want to be a drummer,' said Teddy earnestly; 'I'd rather wait and be a proper soldier—a soldier that fights.'

'A capital decision—stick to it, little chap, and you have my hearty approval.'

'You have your father's blood in your veins,' said the colonel, laughing; 'meanwhile, I suppose you try your hand on the village boys, to content your fighting propensities.'

'No,' said Teddy, a grave look coming into his sunny blue eyes. 'I don't fight with anybody but Ipse now; he keeps me always busy.'

'Who is Ipse?' asked Mrs. Graham.

'He's my own enemy; Mr. Upton told me about him. You see, I belong to God's army. He takes very little soldiers. I've been enlisted for months and months, and Ipse is just another part of me—the bad part!'

There was silence on the little company for a minute, then Major Tracy said with a laugh, 'What an original little oddity it is!—quite a character!'

And then Teddy was dismissed. He flew down the avenue home as fast as he could go. Snow was falling, but he heeded it not, and burst into the kitchen a little later in a breathless state of excitement.

His mother knew already, so was prepared for his news, but she was not prepared for the handsome adornment now on her boy's coat, and his grandmother and uncle were equally pleased and gratified at the colonel's kindness.

Teddy's prayer of thanksgiving that night touched his mother greatly.

'O God, I do thank You. I knew You would answer me, for You knew how dreadful it was to live without my button, and You knew how unhappy my heart was about it, though I tried to be brave, and not talk about it. Please, do help me to take great care of it, and never let me lose it again!'

The next morning before breakfast, Teddy ran off to tell Nancy, and to show her the long-lost treasure. She was quite as delighted as he was, but said, a few minutes after, 'Button-boy, do you remember telling me you couldn't live without your-button? You said you'd pine away and die.'

'Yes, I thought I should; but as soon as I began to pray about it I knew it was coming back, and so I got better.'

'Well,' said Nancy with a sigh, 'I won't ever try to get your button again; but if you were to die before me, I wonder if you would let me have it then? I would take great care of it.'

'I meant it to be buried with me,' said Teddy, considering, 'but I don't mind altering my mind about it, and if you promise not to give it to any one else, I will let you have it.'

'I promise truly,' vowed Nancy, 'and I told you I wouldn't love you till you gave it to me, but I will now, because I'm trying to be good!'

'And we'll always remember that soldiers and sailors are just as good as each other—they're quite even!'

'Yes,' nodded Nancy; 'sailors and soldiers are quite even, and my father is just as good as your father was!'

Teddy looked a little bit doubtful at this, but wisely refrained from making any objection to the assertion; and then they parted, Nancy calling out after him,—

'And when you die, and I get the button, I shall wear it as a brooch!'

'Mother,' said Teddy, a few days after this, as she was paying him her usual 'good-night' visit, 'it's a very funny thing; but do you know, I used to wish for an enemy so much, to fight and carry on with, and now I've got one, and have Ipse to fight with, I'm getting rather tired of him. Is that wicked? I asked Mr. Upton to-day if I couldn't ever get rid of Ipse—I mean when I am grown up, but he said I never should altogether, but that I could keep him well under, so that he wouldn't trouble me so. He does trouble me a lot now'

'Soldiers must never get tired of fighting, sonny, and you have your Captain to help you.'

'Yes; and I suppose when I get bigger and stronger it will be much easier, won't it? Mother, do you have any fighting? Have you got an enemy like me?'

'Yes, indeed I have, my boy.'

'But you're never beaten, are you? You never do anything wrong!'

'I don't get into mischief, and disobey orders, perhaps,' Mrs. John said, smiling; 'but I have lots of difficulties and temptations that you know little about, sonny, and I am afraid I very often get beaten by the enemy.'

Teddy pondered over this. 'When I get to heaven I shan't have to fight with Ipse, shall I?'

'No, darling; there will be no fighting with sin there.'

Teddy smiled. 'Perhaps my Captain will think I've been nearly as brave as father if I fight Ipse hard till I die.'

'There is a verse in the Bible that says, "He that ruleth his spirit is better than he that taketh a city." Mother would rather have her little son fight God's battles than be the bravest soldier in the Queen's army.'

'But,' said Teddy, 'I mean to do both; and now, mother, just before I go to sleep, give me father's button to kiss!'

FINIS.