'Bear in mind, Master Benjamin,' he said, 'that you and I have been associates many years, and your true path is that of commerce and gain.

The march and the battlefield are not for you any more than they are for me.' Wise words and true, and it was not for me to gainsay them.

So I gave him my promise that I would not march with this brave expedition to the lakes." The merchant's words were whimsical, but Robert felt that he was examining him with critical looks, and he felt, too, that a protecting influence was once more about him.

He could not doubt that Master Hardy was his sincere friend, deeply interested in him.

He had given too many proofs of it, and a sudden curiosity about his birth, forgotten amid the excitement of continued action, rose anew.