told me, he never interfered, because his education. had not been good enough, but he supervised it all; while his personal efforts were directed to the moral and physical well-being of his pupils, whom he instructed in riding, fencing, and every out-door sport— at all of which he was, or had been, an adept. After he had very carefully, with the utmost good feeling, and no few gleams of genuine free and real humour, put me up to the ropes,' as he phrased it, he showed me all over the premises, which were very commodious and almost luxurious in their appointments, and finally introduced me to one or two very gentlemanly men who aided him in his labours, and who had but arrived from their leave the previous day, so as to be ready to receive the pupils when they returned from their summer vacation at the end of the week. One of these masters I at once recognised as an old schoolfellow, and in course of a stroll we took together after dinner, he told me all I cared to know of my new surroundings.

Captain John Blunt's own story, as sketched by my friend, who had it first-hand (for the Captain was one of the least reticent of men regarding his own career), was a highly interesting one-almost a romance, indeed, were it set down in detail; and I may as well give an outline of it here as a sort of

key to much that will be narrated in the following pages. He was the eldest son of a gentleman who owned large estates, not fifty miles from Comptonby-the-Sea, which were unfortunately not entailed. The father was a morose, puritanical widower, who could never understand the ways of such a highspirited, clever young man as his son John must have been. They quarrelled; the father was unforgiveness embodied, and quite inaccessible to the remonstrances of relatives and friends when they pointed out that the heir had only erred through the natural bounding spirits of youth, unduly curbed the son, once his temper was over, would have done anything in reason to compensate for the almost harmless folly that had caused the difference; but when he perceived that all his advances were treated with black looks, almost with scorn, certainly with renewed reproaches, he could contain himself no longer, and said he would leave a home that was no home. "Go, if you dare!" was the only answer vouchsafed; and that night, in a fit of wild passion, young Blunt left Churton Manor never to re-enter its door for thirty years. He went to London to stay for awhile with some of the relatives of his dead mother whom he had passionately loved, and the first news he had of his father, was that the latter had dis

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inherited him-cast him off absolutely penniless to face the unknown world. There was no manner of mistake about it; the family solicitor was instructed by Mr. Blunt to forward his eldest-born a copy of his new will, made entirely in the favour of the second son, and poor John was thrown on his own resources, to do as best he could. His mother's relatives had but little property, and less interest. They tried to do all they could, but he soon saw he was a burden to them; so, "without beat of drum (so he expressed it himself), he went off one fine day, leaving only a brief note to say that he was going to seek his fortune, and when he found it they should hear from him, but not till then. It was in the year 1830 that young John Blunt disappeared, and his family. heard no more of him-in fact, concluded he was dead, so utterly wanting was any clue to his whereabouts-until 1849, when some one, more sharp than his fellows, wondered if the Lieutenant John Blunt who was mentioned in despatches as having signally distinguished himself while charging with the Royal Plungers at one of the great Indian battles, could possibly be any unknown off-shoot of the Blunts of Churton Manor. Inquiry was made, letters were written out to India, the antecedents of the lieutenant were traced; and at last, he was forced to write home,

and acknowledge himself as the long lost son. Not that it did him any good: his father was dead; his younger brother (an exact counterpart of his unforgiving parent) was in possession of the estates; and when at length John did once more more set foot in the halls of his forefathers, his welcome was not of the warmest. He told his tale, and when he had thus satiated the morbid curiosity of his relatives, but not at all satisfied their stupid pride which was hurt to think a Blunt should have "fallen so low," he was allowed to make his bow, and be off to any quarter of the world wheresoever he listed. And yet that tale of his was a noble and a thrilling one. I only wish I could give it in full. Penniless and starving he had accepted service as a private in a hussar regiment; then he had gone to Spain as a volunteer with Sir De Lacy Evans' famous Auxiliary Legion; while after that, until the celebrated battle that brought him once more under the notice of his own family, he wandered nearly all over the world as a 'ranker,' until a brilliant feat of arms, in a famous Indian cavalry fight, brought him into such prominent notice as to cause his promotion from the plain saddle of a sergeant of dragoons to the more richly caparisoned housings of a cornet. He was made riding-master of his regiment; he lived as

soberly and carefully as he had always done; prizemoney and blood-money** dearly earned in many a hard-fought campaign (and Blunt was in every battle he could possibly gain access to), made him a tolerably comfortable man; and when he married a lady with considerably more money than he had himself, every friend of his felt that no one deserved such an admirable spouse, in every way, as did honest John Blunt. The Crimean war showered more honours on his war-worn head, and the Indian Mutiny left him with the crowning glory of all— the Victoria cross. After that he retired, and went to live at Compton-by-the-Sea; but his active mind. could not be at rest, and in an evil moment he embarked nearly all his property in a commercial speculation, which, in a very brief period indeed collapsed-leaving the captain and his wife almost paupers. His was not a mind to give way under misfortune; with the aid of some old friends-distinguished soldiers and civilians, who had made their mark in life, and knew well the sterling merit of John Blunt-he established a riding-school, which, however, acting on sound advice, he soon turned into an establishment for the training of youths intended for

*An allowance made for each wound received.