CONCLUSION.
"I never dreamed of such happiness as this while I was an ugly
duckling!"--_The Ugly Duckling_.
The old house at Brenlands still remains unaltered, except that the
empty room upstairs, once the scene of so many terrible conflicts
between miniature metal armies, has been turned into a nursery.
Another generation of children is growing up now, and eagerly they
listen while Aunt Mabel tells the old story of the tin soldier who went
adventuring in a paper boat, and came back in the end to the place from
which he had started; or the history of the little lead captain, who
stands keeping guard over the precious things in the treasure cupboard;
and who once, after bearing the brunt of a long engagement, fell in
front of his men, just as the fighting ended.
When the nursery is in use, a long-forgotten little gateway makes its
appearance at the top of the stairs, and "Uncle Jack" pays toll through
the bars to the chubby little Helen standing on the other side.
Queen Mab tries to make out that she is growing older; but her
courtiers will not believe it, and go so far as to scoff at and hide
her spectacle case, declaring that her wearing glasses is only a
pretence.
But though Brenlands and its queen may seem the same as ever, many of
those connected with it in our story have experienced changes, of which
some mention should be made.
Old Jakes has been obliged to give up the gardening, and Joe Crouch has
been installed in his stead. Joe has finished his time, both with the
colours and in the reserve; but he is the soldier still--smart, clean,
and never needing to have an order repeated twice. He often
unconsciously falls back into former habits, and comes marching up the
path with his spade at the "slope" or his hoe at the "trail," whistling
softly the old quick-step, which once drew our hero to "go with the
rest, and follow the drum."
For Jack he cherishes the fondest regard and deepest admiration, which
he never hesitates to express in such words as these:--
"Aw, yes, sir! he's what I call the right sort, is Master Jack. He
don't turn his back on an old cumred, as some would. I 'member the day
he bought himself out. 'Well, good-bye,' says I--'we've been
soldierin' together a good time, and in some queer places; but now
you're goin' back to be a gen'leman again, and I suppose we shan't see
each other never no more.' 'I should be a precious poor gen'leman if I
ever forgot you, Joe,' says he; 'you stood by me when I first came to
barracks, and some day I hope I shall be able to do something for you
in return.' And so he did, for he kept writin' to me, and when my time
was up he got me this place. Look here, sir, the day he come to enlist
the corporal at the gate says to him, 'We ought to make a general of
such a fine chap as you;' and you take my word for it, that's just what
they would have made of him, if he'd only stopped long enough!"
Of Barbara something might be said, but that something is for the
present supposed to be a secret. Jack, who, like the average boy,
always seemed to have a knack of finding out things that were intended
to be kept private, knows more than he ought about this matter; and
bringing out a handful of coppers at the table, and representing them
to be the whole of his savings, declares that he will be "dead broke"
should any unforeseen circumstance necessitate his purchasing a wedding
present. Whereupon his cousin blushes, and puts her fingers in her
ears, and says, "I can't hear," but listens all the time.
Of Raymond Fosberton, perhaps the less said the better. His name has
come very near being mentioned in a court of law, for forging his
father's signature to a cheque, and is therefore seldom mentioned among
his friends. One thing, however, might be told concerning his last
visit to Brenlands.
A year after that eventful Christmas in Egypt, Jack was sitting before
the fire in Queen Mab's parlour, when Raymond was announced, and shown
into the room. He was dressed, as usual, in good though rather flashy
clothes; but in spite of this, he looked cheap and common, and his
general appearance gave one the impression of dirt wrapped up in silver
paper. The moment he saw Jack a spiteful look came into his face, and
he took no pains to conceal the old dislike and hatred with which he
still regarded the latter.
"Hallo! so you've turned up again. I thought you'd soon get sick of
soldiering; too much hard work to suit your book, I expect."
"No; I left it because I had a chance of something better. Aunt
Mabel's out; will you wait till she comes back?"
Jack had seen more of the world since the day when he had knocked the
visitor into the laurel bush; and could now realize that Queen Mab had
spoken the truth when she said that punching heads was not always the
most satisfactory kind of revenge. He had a score to settle with
Raymond; but he regarded the latter now as a pitiful fellow not worth
quarrelling with, and he hesitated, half-minded to let the matter drop
without mentioning what was on his mind.
Fosberton mistook the meaning of the other's averted glance. He
thought himself master of the situation, and, like a fool, having,
figuratively speaking, been given enough rope, he promptly proceeded to
hang himself.
"You've been lying low for a precious long time," he continued,
maliciously. "Why didn't you come here before? You've been asked
often enough!"
"I had my own reasons for stopping away."
"You didn't like to come back after the bother about that watch, I
suppose?"
Jack let him run on. "That was partly it," he answered.
"Well, then," continued Raymond, with a sneer, "you made a great
mistake bolting like that; you gave yourself away completely."
"I don't understand you," returned the other, with a sharper ring in
his voice. "D'you mean to charge me again with having stolen the
watch?"
"Pooh! I daresay you know what's become of it."
"Yes," answered Jack calmly, at the same time fixing the other with a
steady stare, "I _do_ know what's become of it: at the present moment
it's in its case in that cupboard there. Shall I show it you?"
The answer was so strange and unexpected that Raymond started; the
meaning look in his cousin's eyes warned him that he was treading on
dangerous ground. He had, however, gone too far to let the matter drop
suddenly without any attempt to brazen out the situation.
"Humph!" he said; "I suppose you put it back yourself."
"I was the means of its being brought back. I found it in the pocket
of an officer named Lawson who was killed in Egypt."
The withering tone and scornful curl of the lip was on the other side
now. The visitor was fully aware of it, and winced as though he had
been cut with a whip.
"Mr. Lawson had been stationed with the regiment at Melchester, and I
happen to know how the watch came into his possession."
Raymond saw that he had rushed into a pitfall of his own making--he was
entirely in his opponent's hands--and like the mean cur he was,
immediately began to sue for forgiveness and terms of peace.
"Hush!" he cried, glancing at the door. "Don't say any more, the
servants might hear. I'm very sorry I did it, but you know how it was;
I was pushed for money, I say, you haven't told any one, have you?"
"No. Uncle John and Aunt Mabel know; though I don't think you need
fear that they will let it go any further."
"That's all right," continued Raymond, in a snivelling tone. "I was
badgered for money, and I really couldn't help it. I've been sorry
enough since. I don't think I'll wait any longer, I'm in rather a
hurry. Well, good-bye. And look here, old chap--I'm afraid I treated
you rather badly; but well let bygones be bygones. I don't want it to
get to the governor's ears, so you won't mention it, will you?"
Jack cast a contemptuous glance at the proffered hand, and put his own
behind his back.
"No; I won't tell any one," he answered shortly, then turned on his
heel, and that was his revenge.
And now the only person remaining of whom a last word might be said at
parting, is our hero himself.
It was a balmy evening in that eternal summer that seemed to reign at
Brenlands; and he and Queen Mab were walking slowly round the green
lawn, while the swallows went wheeling to and fro overhead.
Fastened to her bunch of trinkets next the locket was a silver
coin--the enlisting shilling, which Jack had never parted with since he
first received it on that memorable morning at the Melchester barracks.
"Yes," said Aunt Mabel, "it was Queen Victoria's once, but now it's
mine!"
"Well, I think I earned it," he answered, laughing.
"Perhaps you'd like to go and earn another?"
"No; I'm too happy where I am. Uncle John is awfully good to me. He
couldn't be kinder if I were his own son."
"So you're content at last to stay at home and take what's given you?"
"Yes; I think I've settled down at last. Dear old Val said that the
lane would turn some time, and so it has. My luck's changed."
"I think I'd put it down to something better than that," said Queen
Mab, smiling. "Perhaps it is not all luck, but a little of yourself
that has changed."
Jack laughed again, but made no attempt to deny the truth of the
suggestion. Possibly he felt that what she said was right, and that
not only in his surroundings, but also in his own heart, had come at
last the long lane's turning.
THE END.
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