"Well, I hope that your prophecy will come true. At any rate I
shall try, and I hope that your good wishes will counterbalance his
power, and that you will be a sort of Mascotte."

"How tiresome!" the girl broke off, as there was a movement among
the ladies. "It is time for us to go up to dress for dinner, and
though I shan't take half the time that some of them will do, I
suppose I must go."

Captain Mallett had six months previously succeeded, at the death
of his father, to an estate five miles from that of Sir John
Greendale. His elder brother had been killed in the hunting field a
few months before, and Frank Mallett, who was fond of his
profession, and had never looked for anything beyond it save a
younger son's portion, had thus come in for a very fine estate.

Two months after his father's death he most reluctantly sent in his
papers, considering it his duty to settle down on the estate; but
ten days later came the news of the outbreak of the Sepoys of
Barrackpoor, and he at once telegraphed to the War Office, asking
to be allowed to cancel his application for leave to sell out.

So far the cloud was a very small one, but rumours of trouble had
been current for some little time, and the affair at least gave him
an excuse for delaying his retirement.

Very rapidly the little cloud spread until it overshadowed India
from Calcutta to the Afghan frontier. His regiment stood some
distance down on the rota for Indian service, but as the news grew
worse regiment after regiment was hurried off, and it now stood