which was to be their home for some weeks. Little Violet Tresillian, who had been pining somewhat since the death of her sister and brother, brightened up considerably in the companionship of the Armstrong boys, who vied with each other in devotion to, and care of "the wee lady," as they called her, for they both inherited much of the Scottish accent, and used the expressions of their father, a true Borderer from Liddesdale.

B

CHAPTER II.

ON BOARD.

At the time of which we write neither the Suez Canal nor the Brindisi route were in existence, and Lady Tresillian, who found railway travelling very trying and fatiguing, had preferred the longer sea voyage to crossing France, so her journey home was not as rapid as it might have been.

They had not left Bombay many days when poor Mrs Armstrong broke a bloodvessel, and in consequence was quite unable to be of use to Lady Tresillian, who now became her nurse and devoted attendant, thus reversing their intended positions towards each other.

Before the ship reached the Red Sea

the rupture of another blood-vessel reduced Mrs Armstrong's feeble strength to a degree which rendered it evident to all that she could not reach England alive. The great heat increased her sufferings, which were terrible, in spite of all the possible alleviations which her kind friend procured for her.

Fortunately there were some other passengers on board, who, being fond of children, were willing to take charge of little Violet and of Jock and Willie Armstrong during the day, so that both mothers could feel at ease respecting them.

One broiling afternoon, when all but through the Red Sea, Lady Tresillian was sitting in the cabin reading, and occasionally casting an anxious glance towards the berth in which the invalid lay, as she

hoped asleep, when she was startled by suddenly hearing Mrs Armstrong's feeble voice speaking to her. She got up and went nearer; something in the worn face and expression of the large blue eyes smote her with alarm, but she took the almost transparent hand held out to her without speaking, at the same time offering the sick woman a glass of iced water. She drank some eagerly and seemed refreshed by the draught.

Pressing the hand she held, she then said: "My lady, how can I thank you for all your kindness?" Lady Tresillian endeavoured to make some deprecatory remark, but Mrs Armstrong held up her disengaged hand, proceeding, "Please don't interrupt me my lady, for I feel I have not many hours to live, and I want to say a

great deal if I can only have strength and

breath to say it.

As you know I meant

it. As

to go home to my father's farm, but I shall never see my dear old Cornish home again; and now my lady I'm sorely put to it, to think what's to become of my boys, for the last letter we had from father, which was written more than nine months ago, told of the death of my only sister. Father's an old man, and could never take charge of Jock and Willie by himself" She paused, panting and exhausted, and lay back on her pillows for some minutes in silence, with her eyes closed, the blue veins showing painfully in her forehead and eyelids. After a little she recovered, drank some more iced water, and raised herself slightly on her elbow: before she spoke however, Lady