upon it. I am clear that the offer is not to be lightly rejected."

Dr. Sandwith was a doctor in Chelsea. Chelsea in the year 1790
was a very different place to Chelsea of the present day. It was a
pretty suburban hamlet, and was indeed a very fashionable quarter.
Here many of the nobility and personages connected with the court
had their houses, and broad country fields and lanes separated it
from the stir and din of London. Dr. Sandwith had a good practice,
but he had also a large family. Harry was at Westminster, going
backwards and forwards across the fields to school. So far he had
evinced no predilection for any special career. He was a sturdy,
well-built lad of some sixteen years old. He was, as his father
said, not likely to set the Thames on fire in any way. He was as
undistinguished in the various sports popular among boys in those
days as he was in his lessons. He was as good as the average, but
no better; had fought some tough fights with boys of his own age,
and had shown endurance rather than brilliancy.

In the ordinary course of things he would probably in three or four
years' time have chosen some profession; and, indeed, his father
had already settled in his mind that as Harry was not likely to
make any great figure in life in the way of intellectual capacity,
the best thing would be to obtain for him a commission in his
Majesty's service, as to which, with the doctor's connection among
people of influence, there would not be any difficulty. He had,
however, said nothing as yet to the boy on the subject.

The fact that Harry had three younger brothers and four sisters,
and that Dr. Sandwith, who was obliged to keep up a good position,
sometimes found it difficult to meet his various expenses, made