"I do" promise you, Miles, "said my sister, in a voice so solemn as
almost to frighten me.

"And I, Miles," added Lucy; but it was so low, I had to lean forward
to catch the syllables.

"This is honest and right,"--it was honest, perhaps, but very
wrong,--"and it convinces me that you are both reasonable, and will be
of use to us. Rupert and I have both made up our minds, and intend to
be sailors."

Exclamations followed from both girls, and another long silence
succeeded.

"As for the law, hang all law!" I continued, hemming, and determined
to speak like a man. "I never heard of a Wallingford who was a
lawyer."

"But you have _both_ heard of Hardinges who were clergymen," said
Grace, endeavouring to smile, though the expression of her countenance
was so painful that even now I dislike to recall it.

"And sailors, too," put in Rupert, a little more stoutly than I
thought possible. "My father's grandfather was an officer in the
navy."

"And _my_ father was a sailor himself--in the navy, too."

"But there is no navy in this country now, Miles," returned Lucy, in