Harry Ringrose used sometimes to complain of his life from a literary point of view. This piece of ingratitude he was wont to couch in the technical terminology with which his conversation was rather freely garnished. He acknowledged that his "African horse had good legs," as Gordon Lowndes would remind him; it was the later years that set him grumbling. In Harry's opinion they were full of "good stuff," which he longed to "handle"; but the facts were so badly "constructed" (as facts will be) that all the king's horses and all the king's men could not pull them to pieces and put them together again without spoiling them. Then there were the "unities": our author was not quite clear as to their meaning, but he had an uncomfortable presentiment that they would prove another difficulty. And the "dramatic interest" lacked continuity. It was also of too many different kinds. The play began in one theatre, went on in another, and finished across the river. Worst of all was the "love story:" it disappeared for years, and then came altogether in a lump.

This was true. It did. And if Harry Ringrose had essayed the task to which his innate subjectivity and the want of better ideas often drew him, there is no saying how much he would have made of scenes which the impersonal historian is content simply to mention. Of such was the meeting which took place within a few hours of that other meeting in the Eastbourne lodgings. Yet this proved to be the beginning of a new story rather than the end of an old one, which poor Harry meant it to be, as he returned alone to town the same afternoon, and drove straight to Berkeley Square.

His excitement is not to be described. It seemed but a day since the leave-taking in the little shabby drawing-room on Richmond Hill. He remembered his own words so clearly. He remembered her replies. There were no more mysteries now; there were no more quarrels; and he cared still, as he had always done, Heaven knew! If only she still cared for him—if only there was nobody else—what was there to hinder it for another minute?

Nothing, one would have thought: yet it was dusk when Harry rang the bell in a shivering glow of hope and fear, and nearly midnight when he came away downcast and disheartened: and during all those hours but one he had been pressing an unsuccessful suit: though he had her word for it that there was nobody else.

What was there, then?

Those six years which had once given Harry Ringrose a misleading sense of safety.

And literally nothing else!

He called again next day. He hindered the removal on the plea of making himself useful. And in season and out of season he tried his luck in vain.

In the broad light of day he was met by a new and awful argument: his beloved showed him what she declared to be a genuine and flagrant crow's-foot; and he only a boy of twenty-five!

The removal was soon over, and for Harry the town emptied itself just as it was filling for everybody else; so then he took to writing tremendous letters; and an answer was never wanting in the course of a day or so; only it was never the answer he besought.

Her fondness for him was obvious and not denied; only she had got it into her head that those six years between them were an insuperable bar, that a boy like Harry could not possibly know his own mind, and, therefore, that it would be manifestly unfair to take him at his word.

So the thing resolved itself into a question of time; and, in the midst of other changes in his life, Harry did his best to bury himself in his work; but his comic verses were as much as he could manage, and for several weeks in succession these were the feeblest feature in Tommy Tiddler.

Then he went to her in despair.

"I can't stand it any longer!"

"Then give it up."

"I've waited five months!"

"I said six."

"Surely five is enough to show whether a fellow knows his own mind?"

"Some of it may be mere obstinacy."

"Well, then, it's playing the very mischief with my work."

"Then what will it be when we are married?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"I mean to say if we ever are."

"Fanny, you said when!"

"I meant if."

"But you said when!!"

It was the thin edge of the wedge.

This protracted siege had other sides. It was not a joke to either party. Yet each tried to treat it as one. The man tried to conceal his disappointment, his inevitable chagrin; the woman, her deep and selfless anxiety as to whether, in all the years before them, he would be happy always—truly happy—happy as a man could be. She looked so far ahead, and he such a little way. Sometimes they told each other their thoughts; sometimes they were less happy than lovers ought to be; but all these months their inner lives were very full. They did not stagnate in each other's love. They lived intensely and they felt acutely. And that is why, if Harry Ringrose were to tell his own love story, and tell it honestly, it would be a tale apart.

When the time came there was some little heart-burning as to who should perform the ceremony. Harry had set his heart on being married by his dear Mr. Innes. This man still filled a unique place in his life. Indeed the many friendships that he had struck up in the last year or two only emphasised the value of that friend of friends: there was no one like Mr. Innes. They had not seen a great deal of each other during these last years; but they had never quite lost touch; and of the many influences to which the younger man's nature responded only too readily, as strings to every wind, there was none so constant or so helpful as that of the old master to whom he was now content to be as a boy all his days. It was not that he had paid very many visits to the school at Guildford: it was that each had left its own indelible impress on his mind, its own high resolves and noble yearnings in his heart. So it was natural enough that Harry Ringrose should want that man to marry him to whom he vowed that he owed such shreds of virtue as he possessed. And Fanny wished it too, for she had been with Harry to Guildford, and caught his enthusiasm, and knelt by his side one summer evening in the chapel where he had knelt as a boy. But it was not to be; there was a clergy-man in the family; it would be impossible to pass him over.

Harry thought it would be not only possible but highly desirable, since his Uncle Spencer disapproved so cordially of Gordon Lowndes; but Mrs. Ringrose (with whom her son had warm words on the subject) very justly observed that such disapproval had not once been expressed since the engagement was announced; nor had her brother uttered one syllable to mar her own great happiness in her husband's return, but had shown a more tender sympathy in her joy than in her trouble; after which he must marry them, or they could be married without their mother. The matter was settled by a private appeal to Innes himself, who sided against Harry, and by a note from Mr. Walthew, in which that gentleman accepted the responsibility with fewer reservations than Harry had ever known him make before.

"To tell you the truth," wrote Uncle Spencer, "it is against all my principles to make engagements so many weeks ahead; but every rule has its exception, and I shall be very happy to officiate on December 1st, if I am spared, and if it has not seemed good to you meanwhile to postpone the event. I must say that in my poor judgment a longer engagement would have shown greater wisdom: your Aunt and I waited some five years and a quarter! As you say that you are determined to depend (almost entirely) on your own efforts, it would have been well, in our opinion, to follow our example, and to wait until your literary position is more established than your warmest admirer can consider it to be at present. At the same time, my dear Henry, if marriage leads you into a less frivolous vein of writing (such as I once hoped you were about to adopt), I for one shall be thankful—if only you are also able to make both ends meet."

Gordon Lowndes read this letter with such uproarious delight that Harry was sorry he had shown it to him.

"There's that brother of mine," said he; "the chap we wired to for the tenner; he would want a finger in the pie if he knew. But he's forgotten our existence since we left Berkeley Square, and I'm hanged if I remember his again. Besides, he's as High as your uncle's Low, and they might set on each other in the church. On the whole I'm sorry it isn't to be your schoolmaster friend. I want to meet that man, Ringrose. I want to turn that school of his into a Limited Liability Company."

It took place very quietly on a bright keen winter's day. Harry's parents were there, and Gordon Lowndes, and another. Mr. Walthew performed the ceremony in a slow and sober fashion which added something to its solemnity; the church was very still and empty; and in one awful pause the bridegroom's voice deserted him, in the mere fulness of his boyish heart. But the hand that he was holding pressed his with the familiar, firm, kind pressure, and it was from his heart of hearts that the lagging words burst:

"I will!"

THE END.

Printed by Cassell & Company, Limited, La Belle Sauvage, London, E.C.

SECOND EDITION.

MY LORD DUKE.

By E. W. HORNUNG,

Author of "The Rogue's March," "Tiny Luttrell," "A Bride from the Bush," etc.

Price 6s.

"'My Lord Duke' is thoroughly clever and amusing."—AthenÆum.

"From the first page to the last Mr. Hornung's story is fascinating and powerful."—Pall Mall Gazette.

"Worth any dozen of the novels which would compete with it for popular favour."—Daily Mail.

"One of the most agreeable novels that we can remember."—Academy.

"Mr. Hornung is to be congratulated on having produced a bright and amusing story."—Daily Telegraph.

"'The Dook,' as he first calls himself, and Olivia are delightful creations of an undeniable freshness and originality."—Morning Post.

"Full of boisterous mirth, and leaves the pleasantest of impressions."—Scotsman.

"With this tale Mr. Hornung has made a distinct step forward as a novelist. A capital story."—Glasgow Herald.

"The tale is skilfully constructed, and the final unravelling of its threads is likely to come as a surprise even to the most hardened of novel-readers."—Manchester Guardian.

"For many persons, no doubt, the interest of the story will culminate in the discovery of 'the rightful heir,' but life at 'The Towers' has incidents exciting and amusing enough, quite independent of its conclusion."—Illustrated London News.

CASSELL & COMPANY, Limited, London, Paris & Melbourne.

SECOND EDITION.

THE ROGUE'S MARCH.

By E. W. HORNUNG,

Author of "My Lord Duke," "Tiny Luttrell," "A Bride from the Bush," etc.

Price 6s.

"It is a tragic, fascinating, extraordinarily vivid story, which it is difficult to put down when we begin to read it, and the impression of which it is impossible for a while to shake off."—Daily News.

"We have had, so far as I know, no one on whom the mantle of Charles Reade can be said to have fallen. In the author of 'The Rogue's March' we seem to have found him."—Illustrated London News.

"'The Rogue's March' may be commended without the least reservation as a most spirited and interesting story, admirably told, and without a dull page from cover to cover. It will be interesting to see if Mr. Hornung will follow up this book with others of the same kind. If he does so, the mantle of the author of 'It's Never Too Late to Mend' and 'Hard Cash' will have fallen on worthy shoulders."—Sketch.

"It was with the greatest possible difficulty that we refrained from scampering through the pages of each chapter to see what happened in the end of it. Mr. Hornung keeps us in a state of palpitating wonder all through, and then surprises us at the last."—Daily Chronicle.

"One of the most exciting tales that has appeared during many seasons."—Morning Post.

SECOND EDITION.

TINY LUTTRELL.

By E. W. HORNUNG,

Author of "My Lord Duke," "The Rogue's March," "A Bride from the Bush," etc.

Price 6s.

"Mr. Hornung's Australian stories have won him many admirers, and his 'Tiny Luttrell' cannot fail to increase his reputation and their number. The bush is depicted with a vividness, a sympathy, a restraint that make you long to take the next ship to Melbourne. The English rectory and its neighbours are handled with no less skill."—National Observer.

"'Tiny Luttrell' is a most artistic story, and takes up ground on which the author has no rival."—Bristol Mercury.

CASSELL & COMPANY, Limited, London, Paris & Melbourne.

Published by

By J. M. BARRIE.

Sentimental Tommy. The Story of his Boyhood.

Illustrated Edition. Cloth, 6s.

"Exceedingly fascinating and delightful."—St. James's Gazette.

The Little Minister. Illustrated Edition, 6s.

"Here is another book of genius. 'Tis a big word, and one not often used in this place. But we use it now with a full sense of the weight of it, and a clear perception of our own responsibility."—National Observer.

By R. L. STEVENSON.

Treasure Island. 3s. 6d. Library Edition, 6s.

"Of 'Treasure Island' it may be truly said that it is worthy to rank with 'Robinson Crusoe.'"—Daily News.

The Master of Ballantrae. 3s. 6d. Library Edition, 6s.

"In this work Mr. Stevenson surpasses all his former performances."—The Times.

The Black Arrow. 3s. 6d. Library Edition, 6s.

"'The Black Arrow' has been justly compared, and not to its disadvantage, with 'Ivanhoe.'"—Daily News.

Kidnapped. 6s. Cheap Edition, 3s. 6d.

"The adventures in 'Kidnapped' are so continuously thrilling as to preclude the chance of anyone laying the book down before the last page is reached."—St. James's Gazette.

Catriona. A Sequel to "Kidnapped." 6s. Cheap Edition, 3s. 6d.

"Without vain pretence to any spirit of prophecy, one may affirm, with some show of confidence, that here, between the covers of this volume, is the supreme imaginative boon of the year."—Daily Chronicle.

Island Nights' Entertainments. 6s. Cheap Edition, 3s. 6d.

"Three of the best stories that Mr. Stevenson has ever given to the world."—The World.

The Wrecker. 6s. Cheap Edition, 3s. 6d.

By R. L. Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne.

Mr. Andrew Lang, in the New Review, says:—"'The Wrecker' seems much the most enticing romance at present before the world."

By ARCHIBALD FORBES.

The Black Watch. 6s.

"A worthy tribute to the splendid corps to which it has reference."—Army News.

Memories and Studies of War and Peace. 6s.

"A living, vivid page from the history of our time."—Daily News.

By STANLEY WEYMAN.

The Man in Black. 3s. 6d.

"A short story which we cannot but think must have charmed Victor Hugo himself."—Saturday Review.

The Story of Francis Cludde. 6s.

"There is one book among all these new books which kept a weary reviewer from his bed. That book is 'Francis Cludde.'"—Mr. Andrew Lang, in the New Review.

From the Memoirs of a Minister of France. 6s.

"A most agreeable and fascinating book, worthy of the author of 'The Gentleman of France,' than which there can be no higher praise."—Scotsman.

By MAX PEMBERTON.

A Woman of Kronstadt. 6s.

A Puritan's Wife. Illustrated. 6s.

"'A Puritan's Wife' is without question Mr. Pemberton's best story."—British Weekly.

The Impregnable City. Illustrated. 6s. Cheap Edition, 3s. 6d.

"Those of us who are willing, and fain, to keep young as long as possible will read Mr. Pemberton's latest romance, 'The Impregnable City,' with the keenest delight."—The Sketch.

The Sea-Wolves. Illustrated. 6s. Cheap Edition, 3s. 6d.

"A story easy to begin and difficult, if not impossible, to leave off—at any rate, until the last page is reached; and then one has to stop, not because one will, but simply because one must."—Daily Chronicle.

The Iron Pirate. Illustrated. 5s. Cheap Edition, 3s. 6d.

"One of the most thrilling books of adventure we have met with for some time."—AthenÆum.

By RIDER HAGGARD.

King Solomon's Mines. 3s. 6d.

"To tell the truth, we would give many novels, say eight hundred (that is about the yearly harvest), for such a book."—Saturday Review.

By ANTHONY HOPE.

Father Stafford. 3s. 6d.

"The book will be heartily enjoyed by everyone who reads it, and will enhance its author's reputation."—Scotsman.

By BERTRAM MITFORD.

The White Shield. Cheap Edition. 3s. 6d.

"The adventures described are very exciting, and very cleverly worked out, some of the points being particularly ingenious."—Bristol Mercury.

By S. WALKEY.

Rogues of the "Fiery Cross." 5s.

"Boys will follow the story with bated breath."—Dundee Advertiser.

By FRANK STOCKTON.

A Story-Teller's Pack. 6s.

"Perfect Stocktonese, which I recommend to all who are willing to be led into the pleasant paths of frivolity by this delightful writer."—Academy.

Mrs. Cliff's Yacht. 6s.

Stirring adventure and genuine humour characterise this new work from Mr. Stockton's pen. It is charmingly illustrated.

The Adventures of Captain Horn. 6s.

"Mr. Frank Stockton has prepared for his many admirers a great surprise and a surpassing treat."—The Speaker.

Pomona's Travels. Cheap Edition, 3s. 6d.

"Written with the happy blending of quaint naÏvetÉ and saturnine humour that is a familiar and ever-entertaining characteristic of Mr. Frank Stockton's fictional works."—Daily Telegraph.

By G. B. BURGIN.

Tuxter's Little Maid. Cheap Edition, 3s. 6d.

"'Tuxter's Little Maid,' by G. B. Burgin, is one of those rare fictitional masterpieces upon which the judicious critic feels inclined to lavish his whole stock of laudatory terms."—Daily Telegraph.

By JOHN BLOUNDELLE-BURTON.

The Hispaniola Plate. Cheap Edition, 3s. 6d.

"A tale of piracy and treasure-seeking, heaped up, pressed down, and running over with buccaneers, sharks, and foul weather."—Scotsman.

By LESLIE KEITH.

'Lisbeth. 6s.

Mr. J. M. Barrie, writing of Leslie Keith's new novel "'Lisbeth," says that the characters "are real Scots, drawn with great truth and power."

By HESBA STRETTON and * * * * * * * *, a well-known Russian Exile.

The Highway of Sorrow. Cheap Edition, 3s. 6d.

"'The Highway of Sorrow' is intensely interesting."—Daily Chronicle.

By MRS. PARR.

The Squire. 3s. 6d.

"'The Squire' can be described as among the most charming of the always charming works of the authoress."—Graphic.

By COMMANDER CLAUDE HARDING, R.N.

The Capture of the "Estrella." 3s. 6d.

"A story brimful of capital sensation, and told in the simple straight-forward style which appeals at once to the juvenile heart."—Daily Telegraph.

By J. MACLAREN COBBAN.

The Avenger of Blood. 3s. 6d.

"Mr. Maclaren Cobban's spirited romance commends itself at once to the moralist and the pleasure-seeking reader."—AthenÆum.

Works by Q.

Ia: A Love Story. 3s. 6d.

"'Ia,' a Cornish tale, will rank as one of the strongest of Q's short stories."—Pall Mall Gazette.

Wandering Heath. 5s.

A Selection of Short Stories, uniform with "Noughts and Crosses" and "The Delectable Duchy."

Dead Man's Rock, a Romance. 5s.

"A fascinating story which may be confidently recommended to those who have a taste for romance of the weird, mystic, and thrilling kind."—Daily News.

"I Saw Three Ships"; and Other Winter's Tales. 5s.

"Q has never written anything more fresh or lively than 'I Saw Three Ships'; and everyone who enjoys a breezy, humorous, and fiery story should make haste to read it."—Scotsman.

A Blot of Ink. 3s. 6d.

"Q has given us a delightful translation of M. Bazin's pleasant little story. It is only a trifle, delicate as a soap-bubble, but the colours of the sketch are laid on with masterly skill, and an atmosphere of brilliant sunshine pervades the whole book."—Speaker.

Noughts and Crosses: Stories, Studies, and Sketches. 5s.

"'Noughts and Crosses' is a book of altogether exceptional attractiveness and value."—Globe.

The Splendid Spur. 5s.

"'The Splendid Spur' is decidedly Q's most successful effort, and we do not scruple to say that it raises its author to a high place in the new school of novelists—the school of action."—The Times.

The Blue Pavilions. 5s.

"'The Blue Pavilions,' by Q, is about as good a tale of dramatic and exciting adventure as the Baron remembers to have read—for some time, at least.... As a one-barrel novel, this ought to score a gold right in the centre."—Punch.

The Astonishing History of Troy Town. 5s.

"Original, amusing, and well carried out."—Morning Post.

"The book is singularly fresh, taking, and spirited."—St. James's Gazette.

The Delectable Duchy. Stories, Studies, and Sketches. 5s.

"Open this book where you may, you will light upon something that attracts and holds."—Globe.

By A. CONAN DOYLE.

The Doings of Raffles Haw. 3s. 6d.

"So full of life and variety that it is difficult to lay it down before the end is reached."—Liverpool Mercury.

By HERBERT COMPTON.

A King's Hussar. Cheap Edition, 3s. 6d.

"It is rarely our privilege to call public attention to so interesting, instructive, and wholesome a book as 'A King's Hussar.'"—Daily Telegraph.

A Free Lance in a Far Land. Cheap Edition, 3s. 6d.

"To those who like a good, healthy, and yet thrilling tale, this book may be heartily recommended."—Admiralty and Horse Guards Gazette.

By W. CLARK RUSSELL.

What Cheer! Dedicated by permission to H.R.H. The Duke of York. Cloth gilt, 6s.

"There is something always fresh and invigorating about Mr. Clark Russell's sea stories, and his latest contribution cannot fail to attract a wide circle of readers."—Pall Mall Gazette.

List, ye Landsmen! A Romance of Incident. Cheap Edition, 3s. 6d.

"Never has he more cunningly contrived a tale full of romance and adventure. The breeze in which he delights rushes through his descriptions of wild plotting."—Globe.

By JAMES PAYN.

A Modern Dick Whittington. 3s. 6d.

"The work abounds in the quaint humour and turns of expression which give to Mr. Payn's style a character of its own."—The Times.

By HORACE HUTCHINSON.

Fairway Island. Cheap Edition, 2s. 6d.

"Whoever wishes to make a boy supremely happy can accomplish his purpose at a cheap rate by presenting him with 'Fairway Island.'"—British Weekly.

By SHAN F. BULLOCK.

The Awkward Squads; and other Ulster Stories. Cheap Edition, 3s. 6d.

"These stories have a delightful humorousness and raciness of the soil which rises to something like a tragic intensity."—Scotsman.

By A. E. WICKHAM.

Loveday: A Tale of a Stirring Time. 6s.

"A romantic love-plot is worked out to a happy conclusion amid the most adventurous surroundings, in which interest never flags."—Lloyd's.

By G. MANVILLE FENN.

The Queen's Scarlet. Cheap Edition, 3s. 6d.

"An interesting book about soldiers and their surroundings, written with a graphic simplicity not often found in the military novel."—Morning Post.

By L T. MEADE.

The Medicine Lady. 3s. 6d.

"A strikingly successful venture. She interests us in her heroine in the very first chapter."—Daily Chronicle.

By FRANK BARRETT.

Out of the Jaws of Death. 3s. 6d.

"An originally treated and cleverly constructed plot."—Saturday Review.

The Admirable Lady Biddy Fane. Cheap Edition, 3s. 6d.

"A tale of adventure than which we have read few more thrilling, and it may possibly rank even above 'Allan Quatermain.'"—AthenÆum.

By EGERTON CASTLE.

"La Bella" and Others. 3s. 6d.

"'La Bella' will be welcomed with a sense of refreshing pungency by readers who have been cloyed by a too long succession of insipid sweetness and familiar incident."—AthenÆum.

By BARRY PAIN.

Playthings and Parodies. 3s. 6d.

"For whimsical audacity and quaint unexpectedness, 'Playthings and Parodies' would be hard to beat."—Punch.

By MAJOR ARTHUR GRIFFITHS.

A Prison Princess. A Romance of Millbank Penitentiary. 3s. 6d.

By LILIAN TURNER.

The Lights of Sydney. Illustrated. 3s. 6d.

By Mrs. MOLESWORTH.

Leona. 3s. 6d.

By MORLEY ROBERTS.

The Reputation of George Saxon; and other Stories. 3s. 6d.

By W. CARLTON DAWE.

Mount Desolation. An Australian Romance. 3s. 6d.

By ELIZABETH STEWART PHELPS.

Fourteen to One, etc. 3s. 6d.

By LAWRENCE FLETCHER.

Into the Unknown. 3s. 6d.

Zero the Slaver. 3s. 6d.

By HEADON HILL.

Spectre Gold.

By a Hair's-Breadth. 6s.

"How refreshing is a real good story of organized crime and its detection.... The book kept at least one reader out of bed an hour after his usual time for retiring."—AthenÆum.

By ELLEN THORNEYCROFT FOWLER.

Cupid's Garden. 6s.

"Most delightful stories of love and marriage, and the humours of the human heart. Most delectable are the surprises that await us. The conversation is amazingly clever."—Methodist Times.

By FRANCES HEATH FRESHFIELD.

The Wrothams of Wrotham Court. 6s.

"A love story of the seventeenth century. The pictures of London which form the background of the story have been carefully done."—Academy.

By SARAH PITT.

A Limited Success. 6s.

"'A Limited Success' is a clever story, cleverly told, and decidedly interesting."—Christian World.

By W. G. TARBET.

Ill-Gotten Gold: A Story of a Great Wrong and a Great Revenge. 6s.

"'Ill-Gotten Gold' is a story of stirring interest.... A series of exciting events lead to a powerful and highly dramatic ending."—Scotsman.

By E. W. HORNUNG.

Young Blood. 6s.

My Lord Duke. 6s.

"The plot is ingenious, and bright with graphic scenes. From the first page to the last Mr. Hornung's story is fascinating and powerful."—Pall Mall Gazette.

The Rogue's March. Cloth gilt, 6s.

"A most spirited and interesting story, admirably told, and without a dull page from cover to cover."—Sketch.

"Tiny Luttrell." 6s.

"'Tiny Luttrell' has a young Australian lady for its heroine—a charming incorporation of contradictions and inconsistencies."—Daily Telegraph.

CASSELL & COMPANY, Limited, London; Paris & Melbourne.